Book Review for "someone's story" by b.a bellec

This review is spoiler free
Book: Someone’s Story
Author: B.A Bellec
Page Number: 330 Pages
Genre: Realistic/Contemporary Fiction 
Age: For readers 15 and up 
Rating: 4/ 5 stars

"Own your own path instead of being a prisoner to the process."

Synopsis: In this coming of age novel, we hear about Someone’s story (Literally! The main character’s name is Someone). After recently moving to a new town, Someone befriends a group of friends, who are each outcasts in their own ways. They help each other come to terms with the harder aspects of life and band together to fight the ups and downs of daily teenage struggles.
Note: This book contains mature content about drugs, mental illnesses and depression.

What I Loved About This Book: 

1. The Ending: This ending was a complete rollercoaster…. If someone filmed my reaction after finishing my book, they would find me staring at a wall for an hour contemplating those plot twists. Yes, you read that right! Plot twists, plural, as in more than one. I literally could not take my eyes off from the book during the last 30 or so pages. SHEESH I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING! I don’t want to spoil it but I will say this ending is one that will resonate with you and is unforgettable.
   
2. Unique Writing Style: The first few chapters were a bit hard to swallow since I was new to this type of writing. However by chapter three or four, I started really liking it! I thought it was super unique to address the character’s name and put a colon after it rather than put quotation marks around the dialogue.  (Example: Caleb: I guess so.)  It was like a script for plays! 
   
3. Very Engaging Story: I was completely invested in this book! At first it seems like a simple story about a teenager adjusting to the town he just moved in. However, halfway through the book it becomes more complex than what was seen from first glance. The book delves into heavier topics and develops the characters beautifully! And don’t even get me started about that complex plot twist at the end of the book…I will not stop talking about this ending, it’s THAT good! 
   
4. Mental Health/Family Situation Awareness: This book was very eye opening about the various types of mental health illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Representation of these mental illnesses through characters that we read about is a great way to bring awareness to readers. Moreover this book tackles family situations for many of the characters. I found it interesting that we were first introduced to these characters without having any idea of what they went through. It was a great reminder that you may think you know a person but you really have no idea what they are going through.
   
5. The Main Character’s Name: Naming the main character as “Someone” was a symbolic way of showing that this main character could represent anyone. It's a great way for readers to put themselves in Someone’s shoes and relate to what’s happening!
   

What I Thought Could Use Improvement:

1. The Beginning: The first few chapters were hard to get through. One big reason why it was hard to get into the book in the beginning was because there was such frequent usage of simple sentences instead of complex ones. A lot of the sentences were about three or four words at max. This improved on later in the story but I do remember there being quite a few simple sentences at the start. After the first three or four chapters, I became super interested! Maybe the beginning could have had an interesting hook to attract the readers in from the first chapter?
   
2. Portrayal of High School Students: A lot of the background high school character’s actions are exaggerated or just felt a bit inaccurate at some parts. For instance, on the first day of business class when the teacher asks: “What is business?”, immediately students start answering but not in the brightest way (the first student just said that business is something that their parents do). If this was an actual high school class then there would have been minutes of awkward silence while the students each internally hoped that the teacher wouldn’t call on them. And even when they finally were called on, they probably wouldn't say something as surface level as: “business is what our parents do”.  It’s a small thing, but in the end all the small things add up and count towards the overall setting.
   
3. Unanswered Questions: There were a few questions that by the end of the book, I still was not sure about. 
   

• What do Someone’s friends call him by? Why isn’t a single classmate or teacher asking why he wants to be called Someone? When he's introduced to someone new, why aren't they asking him why his name is Someone?
  
• SPOILERS: Who did Someone see instead of Ashley on the bed unconscious? Was that just a trick of his mind?
  
• SPOILERS: What really happened in his old town? Did Someone really do something or was the girl lying? I was confused at the end as to what was real and what was not in that situation.

This book is a MUST READ for everyone! It does have it's faults but in the end it's worth reading it!