Everything We Ever Wanted

Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard
Release Date: October 11, 2011
HarperCollins (Harper Paperbacks)
ISBN13: 9780062080066


3/5 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Sara Shepard, the bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars, delivers a powerful novel of family dreams, lies, and delusions.  Everything We Ever Wanted begins with a phone call with allegations that rock an upper crust Philadelphia family to its very foundations, unlocking years of secrets and scandals that expose the serious flaws in outwardly perfect lives. A moving, intelligent, and unforgettable novel, Shepard’s Everything We Ever Wanted is exceptional contemporary women’s fiction that will be embraced by book clubs everywhere.

While Sarah Shepard is best known for her Young Adult series, Pretty Little Liars, she has also ventured into the adult fiction genre. I was a HUGE fan of the PLL series (up until about the time book #11 came out... seriously, how long can that series go on for?) and I was so excited when I was offered a copy of her new adult fiction release.

The best part about Everything We Ever Wanted it that those teens who grew up with PLL (like me) can now grow up with Sara's books. I'm not a teenager anymore, and although I mostly read YA, sometimes I do want to branch out and read something different. Her new book takes some of the elements that make PLL such a guilty pleasure (including affluent characters, a similar setting, multiple POVs, and delicious dirty little secrets) but make them more grown up.

Because sometimes I just don't want to read about pyschotic killers tormenting teenage girls that are doing all sorts of things I sure didn't do when I was 16.

And this is exaclty what gives Everything We Ever wanted such a realistic perspective; the issues it deals with are more common that we'd like to think, and while there's less action than there is in PLL there's just as much drama. In a less teen-angsty kind of way (except for Joanna).

 Sara Shepard writes characters with such outstanding development, and Everything We Ever Wanted is no exception; these people are so rich and diverse that they could easily be real. And they're not perfect (far from it), and I did find Joanna in particular to be both interesting and aggravating at the same time. Maybe she just struck me as being really weird, and odd in her reactions. But the relationship between Sylvie and Scott especially was incredibly heartbreaking. I cared for the two of them so much, and regardless of their issues I couldn't help but want things to work out for them. The ending did leave me feeling somewhat unsatisfied, like there was something disconnected and lacking in it. But I also understand that this book is about more than the ending, but the journey the characters took to get there.

So while Everything We Ever wanted isnt' about hot boys or risque extra-curriculars (I'm looking at you, Aria), it's still a great read, particularly appealing for Sara's adult fans (or even older teens looking for something different) who are interested in a book about real life and just how ugly it can be.

ARC provided by HarperCollins Canada in exchange for my honest review; I also made a special post related to this, where I discuss talented crossover authors (besides Sara Shepard)! Let me know what you think of these authors over there :)

Crossover Authors

A couple of months ago I was contacted by HarperCollins Canada about doing a special post for the release of Sara Shepard's new book: Everything We Ever Wanted, and since I was such a fan of her and the Pretty Little Liar books I am ecstatic to be a part of it!

While my actual review of Everything We Ever Wanted will be posted on the actual release date of the book, in anticipation of it I'm doing a special post to highlight some extremely talented authors that have done an excellent job of genre blending and crossing over to different types of books.

Because while Sara Shepard is best known for her success with Pretty Little Liars, Everything We Ever Wanted is definitely adult fiction. And there are so many other authors that do the same thing, and it's incredible to realize just how talented they are for doing so, because it isn't easy.

Sara ShepardShepard's Pretty Little Liars series has done so well that she's written nearly a dozen books in it (number 12 is to be released in 2014), and it now has its own spin off show. On the rise of this success, it seems appropriate that she'd try something a little bit different from what she's been doing for a few years now- and I will give a small tidbit of my review about Everything We Ever Wanted, which is that it struck me as containing some of the elements which made Pretty Little Liars popular and enjoyable, but she carries it over in such a way that those readers who've grown up since reading PLL will enjoy her new book for the similar ideas, although they're expressed in a very different way.

So without further ado, my lovely list of 5 other authors (besides Sara Shepard) who can bring out both the child AND adult in you:

1. Lauren OliverAs well known as she is for her Young Adult novels Before I Fall and Delirium, Oliver is also the author of a new middle grade book titled Liesl & Po (which really is as good as her previous books, just written for a different audience)
2. Suzanne Collins Because yes, while she's best known for her outstanding Hunger Games series, Collins also wrote the Underland series which is a Middle Grade story about an 11 year old boy.
3. Marianne de Pierresde Pierres is an Australian author who has previously written adult fiction novels, until the first of her Night Creatures trilogy was released in early 2011 (so far, it hasn't been released in North America yet) as her YA debut- and it is personally one of my new favourites! You can tell she has her roots in adult fiction though, since parts of it do come across as darker than the typical North American YA releases.
4. M.J. Putney (a.k.a. Mary Jo Putney) While Putney is extremely well-known for her romance novels, she took the pen name M.J. for her YA debut, Dark Mirror, in order to help keep the two separate.
5. Richelle MeadOne of the most well known contemporary writers, Mead is currently the author of four rather involved series; two of which are adult fiction, and two of which are written primarily for a young adult audience. All of which have done extremely well, proving that you don't need to stasy within one narrow genre to be a successful writer.

Now, these are just some authors that have crossed over into writing different genres. And they've done an excellent job of proving there's no need to limit yourself as an author- let those creative juices flow! Branch out, try new things! I'm sure this is something we'll be seeing more of in the future, since there does appear to be a lot of overlap in readers from adult to young adult to middle grade books.

How do you, as a reader, feel about authors who crossover or blend genres? Do you think it can be done well? Is it something you appreciate in an author?

And for any of you who are writers- have you written books which could target various age groups? Did you find it difficult?

Any other authors you can think of who've tried this? Did they succeed, in your opinion?