Review: A Different Blue by Amy Harmon

A Different Blue
Author: Amy Harmon
Genres: Women & Family Issues, Young Adult Realistic/Issues
Pages: 320
Published: March 22, 2013
Publisher: Indie

Blue Echohawk doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Let me address the content warning up front. I put it there because some of my readers will be offended by the portrayals and themes in this book. I usually only give a content warning for gratuitous language, violence or sex—when they’ve been thrown in for the shock value alone.

THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE BOOKS!

I soooo loved this book! I don’t even know how to describe how much I loved it. Amy Harmon is a talented writer and this book pulled me in and kept me captive.

Blue Echohawk is what you might call a “bad” girl—she has a reputation for liking the boys, she is a rebel, and she has an attitude that won’t quit. She swears. She’s rude. She’s rough. But that’s not all there is to her. As she says to her teacher:

“There’s a whole lot more to most people than meets the eye, Wilson. Unfortunately, a lot of times it isn’t good stuff. It’s scary stuff, painful stuff.”

As you read, you slowly realize that this description certainly applies to Blue. She’s had an unbelievably rough life, and yet underneath the bravado is a gifted young woman with a kind heart, seeking peace and redemption.

As Blue struggles to find her place in the world, to solve the mystery of where she came from, we follow along. I found my heart agreeing with Wilson, when he said:

“I keep wishing you had had a better life…a different life. But a different life would have made you a different Blue. … And that would be the biggest tragedy of all.”

Redemption eventually comes, but there are still consequences from Blue’s previous choices. I found myself thinking, “Will this girl never get a break?” She does, and there is a satisfying ending, but the struggle she has to face is so hard. It made me feel stronger to read this, to see her courage. It made me want to be more true to myself and to face my own battles head-on.

“Life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”

There is swearing, violence, drug and alcohol use. There are references to sexuality, but it’s not explicit. Some readers may have a problem with the love story. And yet the positive messages of being who you are, refusing to give up, rising above whatever life throws at you are so strong, that I can still recommend this whole-heartedly. I would absolutely let teens, 15 and up, read this.

A powerful book. It gets all five stars from me.

 

 

Related Posts