The Fragile Ordinary by Samantha Young Series: Standalone Novel
Published by Harlequin Teen on 6/26/18
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 384
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I am Comet Caldwell.
And I sort of, kind of, absolutely hate my name.
People expect extraordinary things from a girl named Comet. That she’ll be effortlessly cool and light up a room the way a comet blazes across the sky.
But from the shyness that makes her book-character friends more appealing than real people to the parents whose indifference hurts more than an open wound, Comet has never wanted to be the center of attention. She can’t wait to graduate from her high school in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the only place she ever feels truly herself is on her anonymous poetry blog. But surely that will change once she leaves to attend university somewhere far, far away.
When new student Tobias King blazes in from America and shakes up the school, Comet thinks she’s got the bad boy figured out. Until they’re thrown together for a class assignment and begin to form an unlikely connection. Everything shifts in Comet’s ordinary world. Tobias has a dark past and runs with a tough crowd—and none of them are happy about his interest in Comet. Targeted by bullies and thrown into the spotlight, Comet and Tobias can go their separate ways…or take a risk on something extraordinary.From the New York Times bestselling author of The Impossible Vastness of Us and the On Dublin Street series comes a heartfelt and beautiful new young adult novel, set in Scotland, about daring to dream and embracing who you are.
This sweet and angsty YA read kept both our attention from the start to finish. We just adored everything about it. It was heartfelt and poignant and just an all around addictive young adult read. Today we have reviews below, plus all the bookish info in one post!
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Angie’s Review
4 “Yes. This.” Stars!
The Fragile Ordinary is a heartfelt contemporary romance that pulls you in right from the start. Comet Caldwell might just be one of the most relatable heroines that I have read this year. The girl was a breath of fresh air for me. I identified with her and that made this deep story all the more powerful. Samantha Young tells a complicated tale about the woes of growing up, of traversing high school, friendships, first love, and inevitable heartbreak. It’s a heavy story with tons of angst that forces you to feel all the feels. Once I started reading, it consumed me and by the end I could not get over how intense The Fragile Ordinary was. It’s an amazing read, one I would recommend to anyone who loves a YA romance.
Comet Caldwell is a quirky, eclectic, yet nerdy girl who loves school, strives to do well, and has goals for her future. A bookworm and super smart, she’s also quite lonely. With a set of parents who aren’t attentive to her in the least and two best friends that feel like they’re slowly drifting away, she survives her days by living inside the pages of the many books she owns. But life takes a swift change when an American boy saunters into her school and unexpectedly makes his way into her heart. Comet learns that love is more complicated than any of her books taught, and her typically quiet world becomes so much more chaotic and alive than it ever was before.
Samantha Young really brings a powerful dose of teenage angst and drama to The Fragile Ordinary by traversing some serious subject matter. From drugs and bullying, to messy parental relationships, and the inevitable ups and downs of friendships, she brings out all the rough, raw and real moments. My heart was invested in these characters, so attuned to Comet and her feelings and her life that I felt like I lived this story and I could not get enough. I truly think it’s a fantastic read with a great message and perfect for anyone looking for a heartfelt read! I loved it.
Jessica’s Review
4.5 “OMG. LOVE” Stars!
There’s so much I could say about how fantastic The Fragile Ordinary is but I think what I loved and appreciated the most was how relatable it is. This achingly sweet YA contemporary romance checks off all the boxes of an emotional love story, but it’s also an incredibly poignant, relevant account of the woes of high school. These characters face issues every teenager can relate to: family drama, insecurity and self esteem issues, drug use, bullying, peer pressure, rocky friendships, academic pressure, and the agony of first love. Samantha Young crafts a seemingly ordinary story surrounding relatable, ordinary characters navigating ordinary adolescent situations. But the way Young layers it with such palpable emotion, with a fierce romantic attraction, with all-too-real circumstances that will literally steal your breath, you’ll come away feeling like you’ve experienced a story that is anything but ordinary.
Comet broke my heart. I was so connected to her as she traversed harrowing ordeal after ordeal. Her family is a mess, her solitude is a tangible entity in this book. High school is as tortuous as I remember it, experiencing it again through her eyes. Teenagers are as petty and awful as they ever were when I walked the halls myself. And first love is as devastating and beautiful as I remember it. Samantha Young captures it all on these pages and IT IS PERFECTION. The situations Comet faces in this book are so honest, so genuine, so raw. I’m always so appreciative of a story that never feels forced for the sake of drama or contrived and over the top in a way that takes me out of the story. If anything, the drama in this book pulled me in more and more with each turn of the page because of how real it all is. Through Comet, I was brought straight back to my own teenage years, feeling the insecurity and intense emotions of high school, the unsettled anxiety over an unrequited crush, and the deep paralyzing fear of being a target of a bully. It’s brutal and heartbreaking and unsettling and Samantha Young nails every emotion superbly.
This book is about love and it’s about family and it’s about friendships and loss and heartache. It’s about relevant issues and it’s about finding your voice and it’s about the power of words. It’s so many beautiful, painful things illustrated by the most exquisite writing and I can’t recommend this book enough. The Fragile Ordinary is a powerful coming of age story, a story of bravery and love and teenage angst. It’s a MUST read, a book that’s extraordinary and ordinary all at once. And after all of that glowing praise, I haven’t even mentioned Tobias. Tobias is EVERYTHING. You’ll root for Comet on these pages. Your heart will break for her and with her, and it’ll soar and explode and ache as she navigates her unsettling feelings for the new American boy. I’ll say nothing else other than READ THIS BOOK. It’s one of my new favorites from Samantha Young.
About the Author
Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook& hardback June 2017
Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015.
Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.
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