All These Lives

May 26, 2012 Giselle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, ebook

While I was a bit thrown off by the nine lives viewpoint, All These Lives is a really captivating story about dealing with cancer in a loved one. What's different in this one, is that the story is not actually about the cancer patient, but her sister, Dani. Dani and Jena are twins, Jena has cancer and Dani is battling with guilt. Specifically, she feels guilty for having nine lives, when Jena is fighting for her one.

Let me tell you straight up. Dany is a bitch! She's snarky, rudely sarcastic, a...more While I was a bit thrown off by the nine lives viewpoint, All These Lives is a really captivating story about dealing with cancer in a loved one. What's different in this one, is that the story is not actually about the cancer patient, but her sister, Dani. Dani and Jena are twins, Jena has cancer and Dani is battling with guilt. Specifically, she feels guilty for having nine lives, when Jena is fighting for her one.

Let me tell you straight up. Dany is a bitch! She's snarky, rudely sarcastic, and kind of a bully. This could put off some readers, but I found it strangely interesting. If I knew her in real life I would detest her instantly, in this novel however, her voice is remarkably compelling. She amused me with her peculiar sense of humor, and her reflective thoughts are extremely tormenting. You can understand how much she's really struggling, thus making her personality a little less… inviting. She's hiding behind a mask so people don't see how deeply she's hurting. We've definitely got an original protagonist who may not have the best personality, but her tragically broken state makes this a truly memorable book. I also have to say that I was particularly pleased with the parental roles and their prominence in the story.

Dani thinks she has nine lives. She's been in accidents that should have killed her, but didn't. This aspect in the story is a tad strange. I was never sure if it was meant to add some supernatural elements into it, or if was simply Dany's illusory contemplations about death. Even though it's a big part of the book summary, this side of the story is not the primary focus. It's not even about the actual cancer. It's really more about the sisterly bond, and Dani's unusual way of dealing. It's not your typical cancer novel. Though you can still expect a lot of deep emotions; helplessness, loneliness, and desperation can clearly be felt throughout. There is also some humor and lighthearted moments, even a bit of romance, that gives it the perfect balance. I felt the ending could have gone with more spark; I was expecting more closure in some aspects, but I'm satisfied nonetheless.

A remarkable story about an atypical teenage girl in an unforgiving situation, All These Lives is a wonderfully moving novel that I think many readers will easily get immersed in. This beautify writing debut novel proves that Sarah is an author to watch for!

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Jun 19, 2012 K. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, ok-fine-its-ya, surprise-bitch-i-m-good, 21st-cent, identity-and-psychology

This is one of those books I sometimes feel unequipped to read. I feel like, because I haven't suffered true loss, somehow I can't connect as deeply as I want to with books that deal with death and grief. And is it very terrible of me to say that I want to? Is it to relieve them, or to understand human nature? Does it come from fear of realizing that perhaps I am not as whole, or as ready for life, because I don't know how to handle sorrow?

This isn't really a book about cancer. It is no more tha...more

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May 22, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, read-in-2012

3.5.

All These Lives was surprising, in a really good way. Cancer stories feel manipulative to me, but this one worked because it was much less about Jena's cancer and much more about Dani -- Jena's twin sister -- dealing with being the girl who is very much alive and very much not sick. Dani's not the easiest character to read because she's sarcastic and she's not exactly pleasant, but she's easy to sympathize with.

I appreciated how at times it wasn't crystal clear what Dani was thinking. She d...more 3.5.

All These Lives was surprising, in a really good way. Cancer stories feel manipulative to me, but this one worked because it was much less about Jena's cancer and much more about Dani -- Jena's twin sister -- dealing with being the girl who is very much alive and very much not sick. Dani's not the easiest character to read because she's sarcastic and she's not exactly pleasant, but she's easy to sympathize with.

I appreciated how at times it wasn't crystal clear what Dani was thinking. She dealt with things by doing, as a way to distract herself from her own thoughts. (view spoiler) The other thing I really appreciated was that the illness wasn't drawn out and it wasn't made painful for the reader. (view spoiler). This was a book about living and not dying, and that's what Dani learns about herself and what she learns about Jena. I appreciated the ending so much because Dani figures this out in two waves -- first about herself, then about her sister -- and it's the way she should learn the lesson, since she'd been living the other way around.

Wylie's writing is literary without trying too hard, and the pacing is solid. I think the fact this story isn't steeped heavily in the illness, in the sadness and the obsession over cancer and the implications of the word/implications of the reality of that diagnosis, made the writing and pacing work. Wylie successfully writes a story where illness plays a role, rather than writing an illness, where a story plays a role. It's a big distinction, and it's what sets stories meant to make you cry because of what they deal with apart from stories that make you cry because of how they deal with it.

Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2012/05/a... (less)

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Feb 17, 2012 Hayden Casey rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of IMAGINARY GIRLS who want a little more plot

Let me first just say that the reason I've been reading this for over a week isn't because of its insufferable boringness. It's actually because of my insufferable workload as a high-school sophomore. If it were, say, the weekend when I started this, my review would've came in frantics and complete hysterics, full of gushing and an insurmountable number of typos.

ALL THESE LIVES is much different than I thought it was going to be. The story and the premise remind me slightly of Imaginary Girls (a...more Let me first just say that the reason I've been reading this for over a week isn't because of its insufferable boringness. It's actually because of my insufferable workload as a high-school sophomore. If it were, say, the weekend when I started this, my review would've came in frantics and complete hysterics, full of gushing and an insurmountable number of typos.

ALL THESE LIVES is much different than I thought it was going to be. The story and the premise remind me slightly of Imaginary Girls (and so does the cover!), but there were quite a few differences. The plot was actually existent in this book, not shrouded in gorgeous writing as was the case in IG. The sisters are much closer in this book and much more relatable.

Dani Bailey is a fraternal twin, and her other half, Jena, has cancer. Dani has been different all her life because she has nine lives. Or, she did have nine lives. She lost some when she got in a car accident and caught an infection in her chest. To cope with the pain of losing her sister, she goes out and rids herself of all of her extra lives, hoping they'll fly out into the universe and hopefully toward someone who needs/wants them more than her, like her sister.

ALL THESE LIVES is a very original story, and when I say original, I mean original to me. I've never read a book where a person had more than one life. It wouldn't suffice to say the subject of the novel intrigued me. The book starts off with a bang of a prologue, explaining how it feels for MC Dani to die. From there, I was hooked.

One of the subplots of the book is Dani's acting career. She's trying to land a lead in a toothpaste commercial, and Jena's progressing death is conflicting with her dreams. Everything Dani feels in the book is so realistic, it's almost as if you're right there. I've never known what it's like to lose someone you truly love (I've been very fortunate) besides a distant family member, but if I was losing my other half, I know what I'd feel, and it's exactly what Dani is feeling.

The writing of the book is good. A few solid gems are interspersed throughout, a few emotional lines that feel like punches in the gut.

I definitely know I'm going to add this to my real-life shelf when it is released in a few short months!(less)

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May 16, 2012 Nicola rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-appeal, cancer, books-i-own, young-adult

I've been really looking forward to reading All These Lives for a long time now and I was so excited when I finally got the chance sit down and dive into it. However, after just a few pages, I began to get a bit wary of it and started to fear I would have some issues with the protagonist, Dani. I just got this feeling that she would irritate me for the rest of the book. Thankfully though, I was wrong! I quickly warmed up to her and actually really began to appreciate her personality after just a...more I've been really looking forward to reading All These Lives for a long time now and I was so excited when I finally got the chance sit down and dive into it. However, after just a few pages, I began to get a bit wary of it and started to fear I would have some issues with the protagonist, Dani. I just got this feeling that she would irritate me for the rest of the book. Thankfully though, I was wrong! I quickly warmed up to her and actually really began to appreciate her personality after just a few more pages and was able to sit back and enjoy the rest of the book.

Dani certainly stands out as a character and is really well developed. She's sarcastic and cynical and it really suits her! While the premise of this book is about Dani's twin sister having cancer, the core of the novel is really about Dani and where her life is headed... both in relation to her sister and many other things. She is of course going through a lot and not surprisingly, isn't handling it very well. I loved how raw and honest this book was. Dani doesn't sugar coat her thoughts or the situations she ends up in. She doesn't pretend that everything's okay or that she's okay.

Dani's road to self destruction is both fascinating and scary to watch. She's really very confused and trying her best to make sense of the bad things that have happened to her family. I really loved all the minor characters in the book! I especially enjoyed getting to know the ''geeky'' guy from school, Jack. Dani and Jack share a rather interesting friendship and I liked their interactions with each other and how they change as the book goes on. Wylie's writing is lovely and very easy to follow and get lost in. All These Lives was a pretty quick read and one I was finished with in just a few hours.

This is definitely a novel I will remember for a long time to come. Dani's view of the world is brilliant to read about and leaves you with a lot to think about when you're finished! There are a lot of YA cancer books out at the moment (I've read two others so far this year) but All These Lives absolutely has something new to offer and I would recommend it to any contemporary fans looking for something that is real and honest and doesn't spend the whole time deliberately trying to mess with your emotions.

To see more of my reviews and book-related posts, check out my blog here.(less)

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Apr 26, 2012 Aleeeeeza rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-release, 2012-read, arc-netgalley-galleygrab, book-includes-fatal-disease-dun-dun

you know one of the suckiest situations i sometimes gotta go through? loving an author through their blog and dyiiiing to get your hands on their book and then when you finally do, finding it impossible to get through. here's what it's like:

i. couldn't. stand. the MC in this book. dunno what's up with this but i haven't yet read a snarky MC who's snark i did not detest. the first every MC i wrote (who also is my favorite, incidentally) is like, a snark bomb, but when i read about other snarky MC...more

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May 24, 2012 Karla V added it

Read complete review here: http://notjustnonsense.blogspot.com/2...

Sixteen-year-old Dani has survived a couple of situations in which she was very close to dying during her younger years, and she also remembers her mother telling her, in a playful way, that she takes after herself. That she is the girl with nine lives. Now, she's older and has to see her fraternal twin, Jana, go through the most horrible treatments for cancer. She can't even help by donating her marrow, because, incredibly, they...more Read complete review here: http://notjustnonsense.blogspot.com/2...

Sixteen-year-old Dani has survived a couple of situations in which she was very close to dying during her younger years, and she also remembers her mother telling her, in a playful way, that she takes after herself. That she is the girl with nine lives. Now, she's older and has to see her fraternal twin, Jana, go through the most horrible treatments for cancer. She can't even help by donating her marrow, because, incredibly, they're not compatible.

But Dani is convinced she can help in another way. She has nine lives. Enough lives to spare. So she decides she'll throw a few of them up into the universe, hoping her sister will be able to 'capture' them and get better. But by doing so, she manages to push away the few friends she still has and to convince everyone she's trying to kill herself. But they don't understand. She's just trying to save her sister.

Her parents are trying very hard to act like things are normal, like nothing much has changed, but everything has. Jena specially. Dani can hardly recognize her sister anymore. She's so small, so weak, so sick and defeated. The smallest fever can bring her down, and she has almost daily visits to the hospital. At school, Jana's old friends act like she never even existed, and Dani can't stand that. So she finds comfort in teasing/bullying her classmate Jack when she feels like talking or just hanging out with her only friend, Lauren, (who just can't shut up) when she feels like losing herself in her thoughts.

She also hangs out with bad boy Spencer, who seems to like her quite a bit, but quickly manages to push him away when she decides to crash his Harley for one of her soul 'deliveries'. Even though she still goes to school and random auditions to please her parents, Dani has really given up on studying and acting. Both things she used to be very good at. But now she has other priorities in life. Like trying to lose her lives.

I loved this cover. From the minute I saw it I knew I had to read this book. And it was SO good! I normally try to avoid much drama, but Danielle was such a complex character. She's trying so hard to pretend she's okay, that she's not freaking out on the inside about the possibility of losing her sister any day now. On the outside she tries to look like a very funny, very carefree person, (and she has some really great humorous quotes! Cracked me up quite a bit), but we can see she's trying too hard. I really, really liked her. And Jana, the poor girl, was so sweet, also trying to hide how pissed and depressed she was about the disease. They broke my heart.

I'm not one for very dramatic and sad books, but once in a while a gem like this attracts me and I can't help but let it take over my life for a couple of hours. Probably because I always forget that after all the suffering, they usually leave me a feeling like having one's soul somewhat... lighter.

Sarah Wylie is a very talented writer. She sucks you into the story, she honestly makes you care about the characters and feel what they're feeling. There's no better way to read a story than to feel like you're part of it. Too bad we can't change it.

If you like your YA with realistic fiction, dramatic family issues and very well-written characters and situations, you'll be blown away by All these Lives.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*(less)

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Apr 01, 2013 Theresa rated it 2 of 5 stars

All These Lives by Sarah Wylie is a novel about a girl named Dani and her sister that gets cancer. Dani is unable to cope with her sister's diagnosis. Dani feels guilty that even as her twin sister, she cannot provide a bone marrow transplant. Dani is referred to by her mother as " the girl with nine-lives" because she has been in many near death experiences and survived. Dani frequently dwells on this, and begins to remember when her Uncle Sam told her that sometimes when a cat loses one of its...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Manda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: beauty-ambiguity-allegory, best-of-best, awesome-crazy-girl, beautiful-story, better-than-expected, break-your-heart-kind-of-story, bubur-soul-sister, by-god-i-am-entertained, family-ties, fave-protagonists, from-rock-bottom, girls-got-spunk, love-me-squeeze-me-haunt-me, oh-god-nooo-moment, reality-earnest-yet-unpretty, smells-like-teen-spirit, snark-syndrome, unlikeable-yet-likeable-protag, rom-lite, words-for-you-truths-for-me, oh-boy, books-i-can-reread-forever, brothers-sisters-crazies

I'm actually surprised at how much I loved this book. While I saw in most other reviews that it took a while for readers to warm to Dani's character, I loved her right off the bat. She's snarky, a smart-aleck and has a bit of a morbid and abusive sense of humour, and I found a lot of myself in her. It's funny how many times you'll see this type of male character in a book, but never as a girl, so this was really refreshing.

One aspect that I loved about this book, is that I felt that there wasn't...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Kellee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: death-or-dying, realistic-fiction, ya-teen, bullying, mental-health-depression, religion-faith, survival

4.5 stars
All I knew about All These Lives is that it was another "cancer book"; however, it is more than that and different from any other book dealing with cancer I have read. Our protagonist, Danielle, is healthy and feels guilty that she is, because her twin sister, Jena, is dying from cancer. Dani is convinced that she has nine lives (living through 2 life threatening situations as a child) and feels that it is unfair that she isn't the one that is sick. This book isn't so much about cancer,...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Christin (Portrait of a Book) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100in2012, 2012-debut, book-portrait-review, contemporary-fiction, dac2012, young-adult

Really 3.5 stars

Confession time: I have a soft spot for books with beautiful covers and stories that tug on your heartstrings. Because of that, I was really looking forward to reading All These Lives. Although this book didn't turn out to be exactly what I was expecting, it certainly brought a fresh voice to the YA market as well as a worthwhile story.

Jena has cancer, and she doesn't seem to be getting any better. Dani, her twin sister, would give anything to help her, but Dani isn't a match to...more Really 3.5 stars

Confession time: I have a soft spot for books with beautiful covers and stories that tug on your heartstrings. Because of that, I was really looking forward to reading All These Lives. Although this book didn't turn out to be exactly what I was expecting, it certainly brought a fresh voice to the YA market as well as a worthwhile story.

Jena has cancer, and she doesn't seem to be getting any better. Dani, her twin sister, would give anything to help her, but Dani isn't a match to donate bone marrow for the transplant Jena needs. Instead, Dani looks for other ways to help her sister. Her mother has always said that they have nine lives, and Dani hopes that maybe she can transfer some of them to her sister. As her family tries to cope with their reality, Dani begins taking big risks, trying her best to release some of her lives into the universe. However, with all of the tension of living life constantly waiting for good news, something has to give. And Dani might find that she gives up one life too many...

All These Lives certainly has an interesting premise - could some people really have nine lives or are they just extraordinarily lucky? Dani has walked away from situations that other people wouldn't have, but how far does that grace extend? This book tests that in an interesting way. It has a different view on how cancer affects people. The family struggled to be normal, but instead they were only a hairsbreadth away from dysfunction. Despite that, there were moments where they pulled together and their relationships, especially between Dani and Jena, shone through. Dani was quite a dynamic character; she had a unique, fresh voice that certainly made its impact. I enjoyed her snark and her good-natured teasing of Jack. At the same time, however, she was occasionally difficult and appeared more callous than sympathetic. By the end of the book, however, the depth of her emotion and her love for her sister shone through and gave the book a very powerful ending.

However, this book did leave me wanting more. While I appreciated that romance didn't take over the story, it seemed as though the possibility was there but left unexplored for the most part. I also would have loved to have seen more of the relationship between Dani and Jena. The cancer may have been secondary to Dani's personal journey, but she seemed so alone for most of the story. It would have been nice to see her have a better support system. All of that being said, Dani does grow a great deal throughout the course of the story, and her eventual realization was a good one.

All These Lives is a moving story about making the most out of life. I'll be curious to see what Sarah Wylie writes next! (less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is loaded with emotional cliffs and we drop off more than one as we navigate, for a brief time, in the life of Dani Bailey's complicated and decidedly depressing life. Not that Dani does anything to make it better. But her twin, her other half, the one who knows her best, the one who she promised when she was six and had the chicken pox that she would die for her, is dying right before her eyes and she can't stop it. But she has this odd theory that she has nine lives from something he...more This book is loaded with emotional cliffs and we drop off more than one as we navigate, for a brief time, in the life of Dani Bailey's complicated and decidedly depressing life. Not that Dani does anything to make it better. But her twin, her other half, the one who knows her best, the one who she promised when she was six and had the chicken pox that she would die for her, is dying right before her eyes and she can't stop it. But she has this odd theory that she has nine lives from something her mother told her when she survived a car crash when she was little. And she thinks when Jena is at her worst, if she gives up one of those lives, then Jena will feel well. And so she goes from one suicide attempt to another without anyone really understanding what is happening. Except for Jack.

Dani and Jack have known each other since kindergarten and apparently Dani has been bullying Jack verbally since then. She loves to tease him and make him blush. But now that things have changed in her life, the stakes are higher and suddenly Jack is talking back. Somehow he knows what's going on and like everyone else, she uses her humor as a defense to push him away. Dani has essentially become a stranger to herself. She doesn't know who she is without Jena and she's so afraid that Jena is going to die that instead of savoring her moments with her, she pushes her away and stays away as much as possible. But to think "I will go on existing without her. Wear dresses she has never seen. One birthday cake instead of two. The thought is so absurd that I almost burst out laughing." That's what she thinks as tears roll down my cheeks.

Dani's parents make her start seeing a therapist after she crashes a motorcycle and she's still denying herself any help. If they could only see what we could see, they would put her on 24 hour lock down, and I'm not one to kid about that. She is a danger to herself always. Her biggest fear is being left alone without her twin. Seeing that empty chair at the table for four. Being the one left behind. Some of the last pages are the most profound in the story which I can't share of course. But it makes me wonder who is more scared, the person dying or the ones left behind?

Dani does crash land literally. And she has to decide is she going to quit before she even knows if her sister makes it through the cancer? Or is she going to live the life she's been given, considering she's wasting the one she'd do anything to give to her sister, which is impossible. She has a wicked sense of humor, which she keeps despite everything, but I think I'd be exhausted keeping everyone in my life at arm's length. And in the end, she finds out she isn't as enigmatic as she thought.

I'd definitely recommend this for YA readers that can handle death and suicide. It's heavy on both.
I received a copy of this from MacMillan Children's Publishing through NetGalley for review. The opinions expressed are my own. I was not compensated for my review.(less)

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Jun 23, 2012 Patricia J. O'Brien rated it 4 of 5 stars

If someone you loved was dying, what kind of deals would you make with God or the Universe or whatever might have the power to change things? What would you try if you believed you had nine lives and your twin had been granted only one and it was faltering? This is what drives Dani, the teen protagonist of ALL THESE LIVES.
I loved this book. That's the first thing I have to say. Second, I've followed Sarah Wylie's blog since before she had a book deal. What drew me there was her humor, fresh take...more If someone you loved was dying, what kind of deals would you make with God or the Universe or whatever might have the power to change things? What would you try if you believed you had nine lives and your twin had been granted only one and it was faltering? This is what drives Dani, the teen protagonist of ALL THESE LIVES.
I loved this book. That's the first thing I have to say. Second, I've followed Sarah Wylie's blog since before she had a book deal. What drew me there was her humor, fresh take on the world and her oh-so-clever commentary. I pretty much figured I was going to like her debut novel, because I already liked her writing style and spirit. I not only like this book, I'm stunned by the risks Sarah took, or I believe she took, in developing this character, who is flawed and absolutely authentic. Dani tugged at my heart.
A few reader-reviewers have said they dislike Dani because she is snarky and sometimes a bully, but this is the very thing that is so real in this story. Dani wasn't always this way. She is doing what so many kids, or even adults, do when they're helpless and afraid, she's striking out, and because she's smart she often uses words. Even she knows it's inappropriate. She does it anyway until she learns some things about herself, her family and her friends.
What is so beautiful about Dani is the way she tries to use up her extra lives to buy her sister more time. Other people see a girl acting up or looking for attention when she does crazy stuff and gets hurt. She never tells anyone that she's bartering with the universe, that she doesn't believe she deserves to be spared while her sister is destroyed.
When I was a newspaper features writer I did a series of articles on a teenage girl with leukemia. She was undergoing bone marrow transplant, and I clearly remember her younger sister standing in the shadows of her sick sister, their parents, the doctors. It's a tough place for a kid to be.
I was awed by how Sarah not only got that but built an unexpected story around it.
Recently, I wrote about Patrick Ness's A MONSTER CALLS, another book with a kid protagonist facing cancer in a close family member. That boy, too, acts out in frustration and tries to survive in a terrifying situation. Both Ness and Wylie found extraordinary ways to help their characters cope, survive and grow.
Usually I'm not a fan of prologues, but Sarah put a short one on this story that is breathtaking. Here it is:
"This is how it feels to die. It starts from outside and works its way in. Your cuticles, the tips of your fingers. Fire under your nails that spreads into your bones, burning and freezing everything it comes into contact with. Your arms, your ankles, your teeth, your knees, your stomach, and the place where your heart should be.
Your heart is always the last to go. One hundred irregular beats per minute, and then zero.
But that's just the start. The start of dying.
This is the rest."(less)

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Jun 15, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

My Review: When our blog first launched I read a book called The Beginning of After. Usually special circumstance novels aren’t my thing. The Beginning of After really hit home though. All These Lives follow in those footsteps.

If Nicholas Sparks wrote a young adult novel, All These Lives would be it. It is another circumstance novel. There is no fantasy and vampire lust here. This book deals with the hard circumstances that fall ar...more See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

My Review: When our blog first launched I read a book called The Beginning of After. Usually special circumstance novels aren’t my thing. The Beginning of After really hit home though. All These Lives follow in those footsteps.

If Nicholas Sparks wrote a young adult novel, All These Lives would be it. It is another circumstance novel. There is no fantasy and vampire lust here. This book deals with the hard circumstances that fall around coping with a loved one battling cancer. I’ve seen plenty of Hallmark movies and such that tackle this issue, but very little in YA lit.

I recommended The Beginning of After because that title is a text book manual on how to empathize with a young person coping with mourning and the loss of a family member. All These Lives portrays a young girl coping with her sister battling cancer and the possibility of her demise. This is a powerful book.

The book revolves around our main character, Dani. Dani is a perfectly healthy teenager who loves to act. Her sister, Jenna, has been diagnosed with Leukemia though. She is dying and needs a bone marrow transplant. Dani is not a match though, which breaks her apart. Dani and Jenna are fraternal twins. There should be no reason why Dani isn’t a match. But she isn’t. And she can’t handle it. And now Dani has to watch her sister suffer.

Dani acts out. She reaches out for attention, but pushes everyone away. Dani’s coping mechanism revolves around her self-destruction. She remembers her mother always telling her she has nine lives. If Dani can’t get Jenna her transplant, then she will give her one of her lives. Hence Dani’s destructive behavior. She acts out to throw her lives away in hopes she can give one to her sister.

No paranormal entities exist here. Dani is not throwing her lives away but rather using that idea as a coping mechanism. All These Lives displays the down turn of a poor girl coping with the potential loss of her sister. What’s worse is that she pushes everyone away in the process, including her own sister. Even during her sister’s strongest times, she isn’t strong enough to break down Dani’s walls. Dani continually pushes Jenna, her parents, and her school mates away.

All These lives is a powerfully written title. It deals with some very powerful issues that portray how most young adults deal with potential loss and family distress. The author, Sarah Wylie, does such an excellent job bringing the characters to life. The book reads more like an interesting timeline of a close friend. Your heart hurts for both Dani and Jenna. All These Lives is a novel that makes you want to search your soul for the good to bring out to these characters.

Final Thoughts: Like I have stated before, I recommended The Beginning of After because of how powerful that book hits home to an individual dealing with the pain of mourning. I have to recommend All These Lives for the same powerful reasons, because of how well this is written, because of how this will bring tears to your eyes, and because of how well it will help you understand why a survivor reacts the way they do. (less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Majibookshelf Juhina & Farah rated it 4 of 5 stars

All These Lives has a very emotional story wrapped up in a hard shell that is known as Dani. Dani's twin sister Jena has leukemia, and Dani doesn't know how to deal with it, so she avoids Jena. However, since Dani has been young, she has gotten into many near death experiences and escaped unscathed. Her mom kept on saying that she has 9 lives, nothing bad can happen to her Dani because she's apparently got lives to spare. Somehow Dani gets the idea that if she gets rid of some of these lives, at...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Annette rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a book market that seems to be inundated with books about cancer, All These Lives holds it own.

Dani and Jena are twins. Jena is battling cancer, and is very sick. Deni has always been told by her mother that she has nine lives. As a way of coping with Jena's desperate situation, Dani tries to give some of her lives to Jena. She believes that if she gives up some lives, someone in the universe (hopefully Jena) will grab on to one of them. So Dani puts herself in some dangerous situations.

It's...more

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May 31, 2012 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.5/5

All These Lives is one of those stories that presents us with a quick snapshot of a character’s life—no drawing us in with a beginning, complicating matters in the middle, and then dropping our jaws at the end, instead we arrive in the middle, spend some time, and leave still very much in the middle of the characters' timelines. Typically with this type of read emotional attachment is a bit shallower, our time with the protagonists so limited it's hard to feel as though we truly get...more Rating: 3.5/5

All These Lives is one of those stories that presents us with a quick snapshot of a character’s life—no drawing us in with a beginning, complicating matters in the middle, and then dropping our jaws at the end, instead we arrive in the middle, spend some time, and leave still very much in the middle of the characters' timelines. Typically with this type of read emotional attachment is a bit shallower, our time with the protagonists so limited it's hard to feel as though we truly get to know them, finding ourselves at the very best able to sympathize with them before we reach the last page and are left to wonder what will come of them. Such is the case with All These Lives, our snippet of Dani’s life as she struggles to deal with her twin sister’s leukemia a quick and dark one, leaving us with heavy hearts as we watch one young woman self-destruct in an attempt to save another.

Dani is a tricky young heroine, springing from the story in the very first chapter with a rather blunt demeanor to slap us in the face and make us blink at our rather rocky introduction. While it’s clear she uses her attitude and her general disregard for the feelings of others as a coping mechanism for Jena's illness–feeling as though there’s no room in her for anything outside of the overwhelming guilt she feels for being the sister with lives to spare–her snide comments and standoffish personality prove to be armor we lack even the slightest ability to chink. Her misguided belief that she has nine lives (that if given up and released into the universe through death could find their way to someone like her sister who needs them) is challenging to read about, making us extremely uncomfortable and reinforcing Dani’s feelings of helplessness with regard to Jena by forcing us to acknowledge our own helplessness when it comes to saving Dani from herself.

All These Lives will likely appeal to those readers who enjoy realism without the pleasant safety of a sugar coating, where life is hard and at times brutal, and a miraculous happy ending, however desirable, isn’t necessarily a guarantee. Dani isn’t an easy protagonist on any level, and while we get tiny glimpses of vulnerability here and there, she fights us tooth and nail the entire way, making it crystal clear she would shove us from her life if she knew we were there just as roughly as she does those around her. As mentioned before, there’s no real beginning or end to this story, so we close the back cover without a definite future for Dani and Jena laid before us, but we do get some comfort in knowing Dani has learned from her nine-lives experiment and will perhaps start shedding some of that flawless armor moving forward.

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May 25, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All These Lives took me by complete surprise. I would never have imagined that I would like such a snarky and sarcastic protagonist, or that I would empathize with her guilt over being very much alive when her sister is walking a fine line between life and death. I thought All These Lives was going to be about the struggles of living with someone who has cancer. What I got was so much more!

Dani is not an easy character to like as she's actually a bit of a bully. Her snark is always intended to h...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Niki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Considering this is the first book written by this author, I must say the theme of the book was perfect but everything else...not so much. I thought the relation of cat lives to the main character's life was stupid considering what the book was about. I thought the main character's, Dani, was selfish and her actions were stupid considering she has a twin sister with cancer. I was hoping that everything she did would MAKE SENCE!!!! but it didn't :( I just thought what Dani didn't really explain...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Suzanne Palmieri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite

Okay. So I just finished reading this novel for the second time. And before you read the review please note TWO THINGS: 1. I do not usually read YA (I'm an adult fiction author... adult as in--- for grown ups, not erotic or anything) and 2. I'm biased because I've known the author online for a few years.

I've read many of the reviews of this book, which is why I read it again. I'd like to take a moment to address the issues that many readers have with Dani. (The MC of the book)

Dani is reeling fr...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Karla Nellenbach rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'd really give this 2.5 stars, but since I couldn't, I rounded up...

I find I can't really express how I feel about this book. There were things about it that I love, love, loved. The premise: intriguing. The MC's voice: clear, concise, and compelling.

I really enjoyed Dani's brashness, her harsh sense of humor, but did I like her? NO. I didn't like her choices, her ideas, her treatment of just about everyone. Now, I do love a good, unlikable character. Who wants to read about someone perfect. P...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Jodie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, arc

The basis of this novel is what interested me. The thought of a set of twins, one having cancer and battling through the treatments of chemo and radiation, and the other willing to do anything if it would mean that her sister would live. I did find that, but it wasn't anything close to what I was expecting.
In the beginning, Dani let's us know that her parents do everything they can to still make her feel special and loved despite the constant attention that her sister Jena gets due to her canc...more

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May 29, 2012 Michelle added it · review of another edition

How would you react if you found out a loved one was facing a battle against cancer? Would you deny the possible and pretend nothing has changed? Would you immerse yourself into the physician's recommended regime to optimize the impact of the medicines? Would you distance yourself against the inevitable? When faced with the potential death of a loved one, everyone reacts differently. All These Lives is a poignant and amazing look into one family's struggle with the news that every family hopes n...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, young-adult

This and other reviews can be found on my blog @ http://bookaholicfaggots.blogspot.com

Yep. Another one of my precious Teen Read Week reads. <3 Ohmergerd. I'm doing a book review when I have a district essay test tomorrow. ;(

The Cover:
Okay. I can't say the cover changed any of my opinion towards the book. At first, I thought the girl was facing a tank. I mean, her hair doesn't even look wet. Well, I don't know, but I know this was probably the scene where she was trying to drown herself. WHY?...more

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Apr 10, 2012 April the Librarian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dani and Jena are 16 year old twin sisters, but not identical in looks or demeanor. Dani's Mom has always commented that Jena was not like herself or Dani - they had nine lives. Soccer playing Jena is more fragile, not as tough as Dani. The cancer proves it.

Jena has cancer and everyone in the family deals with it in their own way. Dani doesn't deal with it, or when she does, she chooses dangerously. I enjoyed this story in that it didn't focus on the the cancer, or the character with cancer. Ins...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Summer Fenwick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama, young-adult, spiritual, slice-of-life

I normally don't read books like this, and I was a little hesitant to pick it up because one of the characters has cancer in it. But, this isn't a book about a character struggling with cancer. It also sounds like a book where the punchline is "put your faith in God" but it's not about that either. I think the book is a coming-of-age novel and struggling with things that are beyond our control, and a book about accepting yourself.

On a personal note, I felt like I could really relate to the main...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Linna marked it as wishlist-to-be-released

The title made me think of reincarnation (meh), but this sounds even more interesting. :)

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Mar 10, 2013 Drucilla rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: w

My biggest problem with this book was that nothing was resolved in the end. (view spoiler) I do think the book is an interesting and well done character study of family going through this diagnosis. I know some people might say that you don't need to know everything that happens for a story to be good and I get that. I j...more

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May 17, 2013 Amber (The Musings of ALMYBNENR) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-150-reading-challenge, 2012-ebook-challenge, arcs, ya-contemporary-challenge-2012, ya_contemporary

Danielle believes she has nine lives and that her fraternal twin sister, Jena, only has one. The leukemia ravaging Jena’s system helps lead Dani to this conclusion because as a child, she herself walked away from two incidents when she should have died. After Jena’s leukemia, the big thing that sends Dani spiraling out of control is that her bone marrow is not a match for Jena’s.

Dani recalls the stories her mom told her of their accident when she was a baby and later an infection, both of which...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Brandi Kosiner rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is such a neat premise for a contemporary book. It has the elements that I love of strong family ties, nerdy boys, a lead I can connect with, and the sadness that tugs my heart of a character will an illness. Sarah Wylie really knows how to write emotions, and she also knows how to break the tension with the sarcastic and quirky main character and her picking on said nerdy boy.
The idea about the nine lives, and being able to release a life and have it save someone else is something that I...more

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