The Color Of Grace [Kindle Edition]

"Hey, where are you going?" His voice, confused yet curious, called after me. "Hey. Why didn't your mother name you Maybe, or We'll see, or What's-Your-Number? That way, we could call our first born Absolutely."

"I was a rule-follower. I obeyed all forms of authority. I had never before encountered a situation where the authority was clearly wrong and I had to stand up for what was right."

"I'm never one, distinct color but a dichotomy of dark and bright. The hues follow me, reflecting my mood, displaying every tone and shade I feel. I can breathe in red and exhale blue, or swim in green and dry as a rainbow. It all depends on how I choose to react to every shadow and light beam headed my way. "

"Holy Hosanna"

There are a few times I feel like the narration of The Color of Grace is very close to reality, but these times are few and far between. Most of the time, this doesn't seem like a contemporary novel at all since the romance and much of the action had no likeness to reality. I suppose part of the reason I had a hard time connecting with this novel is because Grace's new "friends" (who she doesn't much like either) are the typical popular group - the peppy, superficial kids who just crave attention and actively drink and create peer pressure. Now, if this was a story about the nerd herd, my feelings would be significantly different... As it is, I kind of felt sorry for Grace because she's participating in all these nightly hangouts she's not even comfortable in - for what? A cute boy she's known for two days? The whole plot is just this side of ridiculous.

**I'm going to go on a long rant here**
And all this Facebook stuff has to described in such detail. *GAH* I really couldn't care less who friended you, who's writing on your wall, or even what video games you're playing with your group and how you're faring in each of them. Unnecessary detail, my friend. Hugely unimportant to the story. And, okay Grace. Once you found out Ryder wasn't evil enough to flirt with you while dating another girl, wouldn't it be easier to just say "Hey, Ryder, sure, I like you too. Let's hang out"? No, you HAVE to go the roundabout, angsty way that no real guy would bother to go for a girl? Why? Why??
**Rant over... sorta**

Sometimes, Grace can be very perceptive such as when she creates her diary entries for her project reflecting on which color she is that particular day. Other times, she can be overdramatic and downright mean, especially when it comes to her mother. Although that is closer to reality than many MCs, Grace's flaws make it difficult for me to connect with her and sometimes, I just want to conk her over the head for what she says (or thinks). Case in point: when she gets a beautiful rose necklace from her stepfather and her mother gets angry and jealous (why?), instead of talking it out, she turns spiteful and rage-y. She goes so far as to say, "She was probably feeling self-conscious because Barry hadn't given her anything sparkly to wrap around her own wrinkly, old throat.". How could she think that about her own mother? This is not even an age-old fight - the two only began to argue after Mom marries Barry, the new stepdad. Which is like two weeks. Before that, they were the best of friends. I've gotten an explanation as to why they started arguing so much, but with a previously wonderful mother-daughter relationship, the reason was VERY hard to believe. Loving moms don't just suddenly turn on their kids like that.

Another thing I don't really understand - if the author had made a conscious effort to make the protagonist believable, why not do the same for the love interest? No, he's gotta be Mr. Perfect. He's sweet, intelligent, funny, loving, and super emotional/vulnerable (not to mention hawt). I love his nature but guys like that are never present in real life, which alternately makes me want to weep and throw things!

My favorite part(s) of the novel were the little diary entries at the beginning of each chapter - they were so insightful and took you right into what Grace was feeling before the particular chapter even began! Truly enjoyable to read. The gorgeous prose with which those entries were written makes me think Linda would probably write amazing nonfiction essays.

All in all, The Color of Grace just contained too much angst for me: angst that could all have easily been sorted out if people were honest and believing with each other. When I read a contemporary book like this one, I want the characters to experience something emotionally (or even physically devastating (that sounds cruel, now that I think about it), and then learn an important life lesson, teaching it to me in the process. What did I learn here? Trust my gut? Love is sweet?

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A couple of years ago, I read Linda Kage's debut YA novel The Stillburrow Crush. It was fun and romantic and I really, really enjoyed it. So when I heard Linda was releasing a new YA novel, I was beyond excited. I couldn't wait to read it, especially after reading the summary for it. Thankfully, The Color of Grace was a spectacular book! Well written, suspenseful, and romantic, The Color of Grace was everything I expected it to be as well as much, much more!

The Color of Grace begins the story of Grace Indigo, a girl who is facing more than her share of changes lately. The biggest change, though, is the move she will be making, a move that means leaving behind her best friends as well as the home she's come to love. She's kind of made peace with it, though, since the move is because her mom has found love again, and that's something Grace has always hoped she would find. However, the move brings forward things she can't even begin to manage...her falling out with her friends, her meeting a boy that has her heart overpowering her common sense, and a frightening new predator in someone she thought she could trust. All Grace knows for sure is that this is going to be a life changing new sequence at school as well as at home...

From the first page, I instantly liked Grace. She was naive and funny as well as kind and strong. She was someone I could really relate to and find parts of myself in, and I feel that many other readers- teens AND adults- will feel the same! What I loved most about Grace, though, was how she didn't always make the right choice nor did everything always come easy to her. She did a lot of work so to say and I really feel like it made all the difference in making this book incredible. Another part of this book I enjoyed was the addition of Ryder. From the first time he was introduced, I knew I would come to love him, and that's exactly what occurred. He was such a nice guy, one who just like Grace made mistakes yet worked to fix them. I also loved the addition of the Nerd Herd- aka what Grace and her friends from home call themselves. Their scenes together always caused a laugh or two, and I would seriously love to see more of them in the future...maybe in other books.

One thing that really blew me away in this was the plot as well as the writing. Linda's first book was a feel-good romantic comedy kind of read, and that's what I expected from this one, but I ended up getting something much different. The Color of Grace is a much more serious read. It deals with assault as well as life changes- the good and the bad- as well as what growing up really means. Don't get me wrong, this book wasn't one huge sob fest, it had it's funny and sweet moments as well, but it's emotional points are what made this book so strong. To be honest, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. In addition, I have to add how much I loved Ryder and Grace's friendship. It really flew off the page and come to life. Plus I just loved all the romantic tension between them...time and time again I felt like shouting "JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY!".

Lastly, I really enjoyed the writing in this, as mentioned before. It was a big step up from Linda's first YA. She did a fantastic job of crafting the characters and plot. Plus I really enjoyed how she tied in the color part as well- it added an unique addition to the plot.

In all, The Color of Grace by Linda Kage is an AMAZING contemporary read, one that I can't suggest highly enough.With this one, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel like shouting as well as rooting for the characters...really it's just the perfect read, in my book. So, basically, Linda, I'm so glad you're back to writing YA..just don't take another two years to write the next one, okay? ;)

In the midst of vampires, werewolves, witches, angels, and dystopians, it's sometimes really amazing to find a story where the characters are real, living, and dealing with situations that occur every day in real life, and then watching them work their way through those challenges. Linda Kage's The Color of Grace gave me exactly that. This story wasn't high concept, gimmicky, or following a current trend, and that's exactly what I loved about it.

Grace is a regular girl, kinda nerdy, even a little shy and mousy to begin with. When her mother remarries and they must move her to a new school district, you expect her to get swallowed by the popular crowd and to fade into the background as she's always done at her old school, with only her closest "nerd herd" friends around her. But her chance encounter with one of the most popular boys at her new school throws her directly into a new set of friends, ones she never used to fit in with. Don't get me wrong... this isn't exactly the cliched story of a popular girl wannabe where the nerdy girl gets elevated in a cutesy way and ends up getting the boy. It may seem to start out that way, but in her unique way, Linda Kage manages to make this story about oh, so much more.

For the first time, Grace's personality evolves and she finds new strength, new awareness, and new courage within herself to stand up for herself among this new popular crowd. Not all of her choices are the best ones, but she doesn't stand on the sidelines anymore and let herself melt into the background. She doesn't spend all her time trying to conform or compromise herself in order to fit in with this crowd. She keeps being herself, whether they like it or not, because she just doesn't care about impressing people. She doesn't always make the best judgments about people, with Ryder included, but that's part of what makes her character so true and real.

Ryder.... This was just an all around great guy. He's drop-dead gorgeous, the most popular guy at his school, but he's strangely grounded. He doesn't care what others think about him, which probably is what makes him so alluring to this crowd. The great thing about him though is that he's strong at just the right moment, exactly when and how he needs to be. But this is just a great guy that any girl would be lucky to have. The scene in the bathroom... that's all I'm going to say. It says it all for anyone who has read the book.

This story took a surprising turn for me, and I was a little surprised by the events that unfold. I wasn't expecting this to occur in this story. It seemed to be a very clear-cut cute romance. So, needless to say, I was a little floored when I discovered where things were headed. Wow, what a surprise punch. There are some really awesome life lessons in this story, and it was great watching Grace working to overcome this obstacle. The only thing that really got me though was that she had to do it almost entirely on her own. There were times I really wished her mother could have been there for her, but I larged wished I could give her mom a good bonk in the head more than once.

The writing in this story was just about perfect, even down to the title. I loved how the book's title tied so well into what was going on in the story. The pacing, too, was pefect, as I literally flew through the pages. There were times of simple, straightforward directness, and then times of beauty, a poetic rawness that really touched my heart and made the story stick with me. I fell in love with Linda Kage's prior books for the same reason, and she's done it again here. This is a story that exceeds expectations and will stick with you long after the last page.