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My Life in Black and White

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 1,106 ratings · 168 reviews

What if you lost the thing that made you who you are?

Lexi has always been stunning. Her butter-colored hair and perfect features have helped her attract friends, a boyfriend, and the attention of a modeling scout. But everything changes the night Lexi's face goes through a windshield. Now she's not sure what's worse: the scars she'll have to live with forever, or what she...more

Hardcover, 294 pages

Published June 28th 2012 by Viking Juvenile

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19th out of 46 books — 129 voters

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Apr 30, 2013 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

GET.IT.NOW! I am not kidding please put this on your TBR's if you want an awesome read that will leave you reeling! This book left me speechless and that does NOT happen! I have had such a hard time writing this review because this book was amazing and no words will do it the justice it needs!

I fell in love immediately with Lexi, no lie she is an amazing character who goes through some crazy shit but still comes out strong and confident and at times she isn't, and at those times I don't blame he...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Theia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites

This book...How do I even begin to explain this book?

This book is about a girl named Alexa(or Lexi) who's extremely beautiful and she and everyone around her is aware of it, she's got a great boyfriend who she loves, a best friend who she's known since she was little. Her whole life is almost perfect....Until her face goes through a windshield.

Now Lexi has to go through life as a new her.

She looses her friends, her boyfriend, her beauty, her popularity.
I loved this book so freaking much. Thi...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Jessica-Robyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, standalone-novels, mental-physical-illness, pov-female, 2013-read, body-books

Read this review on Reading Robyn!

"My life is over. It's the kind of pronouncement teenage girls make every day. They say it after such traumatic events as, say, farting out loud in gym class, or discovering they've gained three pounds at Christmas and can't fit in their winter formal dress. Oh my God, you guys! My life is over! Then they bawl to their girlfriends, eat a bunch of Oreos and move on. But this was different." - ARC page 14

Lexi has everything she could ever want. Great beauty, a gr...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

For Lexi, her beauty is everything. She’s grown up knowing that she is pretty, especially since that’s usually the first thing that people tell her. But all that changes the night that she flies through the windshield of her best friend’s brother’s car. Lexi knows she’s lucky to be alive, but it’s hard to keep that perspective when she looks in the mirror—facial scarring from the accident has marred her perfect face. She feels like she’s lost everything, especially when she remembers what she sa...more For Lexi, her beauty is everything. She’s grown up knowing that she is pretty, especially since that’s usually the first thing that people tell her. But all that changes the night that she flies through the windshield of her best friend’s brother’s car. Lexi knows she’s lucky to be alive, but it’s hard to keep that perspective when she looks in the mirror—facial scarring from the accident has marred her perfect face. She feels like she’s lost everything, especially when she remembers what she saw that night that made her get in the car in the first place. Friendless and ugly, the last thing that Lexi wants to do is go back to school, but in order to start to emotionally heal, she’ll have to face the world again. With the help of her not-quite band geek older sister and a new friend with his own baggage, she’ll learn that there’s a lot more to her than her beauty.

Natasha Friend consistently writes thoughtful stories with great emotional depth, and her most recent novel My Life in Black and White is no different. This book deals with a lot of complex issues, including body image, confidence and popularity, expectations, and different types of relationships, but I found that more than anything, this story was about forgiveness. While a major part of Lexi’s journey was learning to live with her altered appearance, ultimately her happiness was tied to forgiving those involved in the events preceding the car accident, especially her best friend and her boyfriend, and also forgiving herself. Lexi’s path to forgiveness is definitely a bumpy one, and more often than not, I actually found myself somewhat irritated with Lexi’s propensity for wallowing and self-pity; though I certainly understood where Lexi was coming from, my inability to truly connect with her character unfortunately made the story overall less satisfying. I still quite enjoyed My Life in Black and White, but this novel definitely isn’t my favorite of Friends’s.

Fans of Friend’s previous novels, especially For Keeps, will enjoy My Life in Black and White, as will readers who also enjoyed Not The Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian and The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle.

reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com (less)

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Sep 15, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

A great teen book about overcoming diversity. Lexi, is the "it" girl, pretty, smart and popular. She had it all, or at least what everyone wishes they had. Taylor and her have been best friends since kindergarten, and are inseparable. It's the summer before high school and the two are staying active to make sure they make the varsity girls field hockey team, but also making sure to get their tan on to make all the guys jealous, especially Jarrod's friends, Taylor's older brother who is captain o...more A great teen book about overcoming diversity. Lexi, is the "it" girl, pretty, smart and popular. She had it all, or at least what everyone wishes they had. Taylor and her have been best friends since kindergarten, and are inseparable. It's the summer before high school and the two are staying active to make sure they make the varsity girls field hockey team, but also making sure to get their tan on to make all the guys jealous, especially Jarrod's friends, Taylor's older brother who is captain of the football team and a senior. Taylor's parents happen to be away one summer evening so Jarrod decides to have a party, invite a few friends, well a friends with kegs, and before long a party has started and everyone is getting drunk. Lexi and Taylor lose each other in the chaos and Lexi goes in search of her only to find Heidi, a friend of the girls, standing guard outside Taylor's parents room, Lexi barges in to find Taylor and Ryan, Lexi's boyfriend, doing something they shouldn't be doing. Lexi goes crazy, so upset that they would do this to her. She chugs a beer then asks Jarrod to drive her home, though he is quiet drunk as well. Next thing Lexi knows she is in the hospital in intense pain. It so happens that Jarrod crashed the car, but why it happened Lexi is not willing to tell. Lexi's beautiful face is now a mess and she has to have skin graphs taken from her butt to help with the reconstruction. Lexi is devastated and doesn't know now how to react or act now that she is "ugly". Lexi hides out at home from everyone, eats her face off and gains weight, doesn't talk to any of her "so-called" friends. Nothing she stays in bed. School starts and she refuses to go, two weeks in her sister Ruthie has had enough and drags her out for some fun and a change. Finally Lexi goes back to school, but still is unsure about everything and doesn't know how to act around her friends. She goes through the motions at school, but doesn't want to be there and ends up skipping more classes. Getting in trouble from her father Lexi decides to change everything about herself, but she still has a hard time doing this considering she was the old Lexi for so long. Lexi meets Theo, a nice guy who she knows nothing about, he takes her boxing one day after school to let her punch something. Before long the two build a friendship and are able to relate to each other due to loss in their lives that they have both had to deal with. Taylor gets into trouble and Lexi tries to help, but things between then turn from bad to worse and Lexi doesn't know what to do as she thought she was trying to help. Lexi feels lost and alone, all of her old friends are not there for her any longer and they also don't know how to act or talk to her. Lexi finally realizes she wants things to go back to how they were before the accident, this after finally having a real talk with Heidi, the tag-along as she is classified in the group of friends. Lexi finally understands why Heidi is the way she is and why she acts and says what she does. Heidi says that the fat jokes actually do hurt her and she just wants to be accepted. With this information and the tragedy that happened to Taylor, Lexi decided to change everything. To apologize to Taylor and figure out what really happened, to make amends with Heidi and to change who she is as well, to not be so selfish. Things do work out, but Lexi realizes there is still a long road ahead. She has changed and so has everyone else over the last few months, but this is not to say that it is a bad thing. People do change as they grow older and certain events can cause more change in a person than realized at first, but the key is to accept the changes and work with them, which is what Lexi, Taylor, Lexi's mom, Ruthie, and all of Lexi's friends are realizing.

I loved this book. At first I was unsure about the premise of the book or where it was heading, but I was intrigued to find out where it ended. I loved reading about the transformation of Lexi after accident. Sometimes it truly does take something tragic to happen to someone to make them realize and wake to the fact that they are not perfect and that the world does not revolve around them. Teens go through more than we give them credit for a lot of the time. School now a days is getting harder and harder to fit in, to not be pressured into doing certain, to keep the grades up, to just keep going some days. It is hard. This book clearly defines the struggles of being a teen in today's society and how hard it is to know one's self and those around them. A great book. A high recommendation for teens and adults alike.(less)

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Sep 06, 2012 Catrin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay. I didn’t think much of the cover at first, especially when I thought all the black and white were sequins. I’m still not entirely sure of their being beyond the fact that they are triangles/arrow-resembling, but let’s not judge the cover too quickly.

I think I’m pretty lucky to have read a few books that I liked. My Life In Black And White talks about Alexa, or Lex(i), when she walks in on her best friend and her boyfriend…hooking up, and storms out of the house with her best friend’s irres...more Okay. I didn’t think much of the cover at first, especially when I thought all the black and white were sequins. I’m still not entirely sure of their being beyond the fact that they are triangles/arrow-resembling, but let’s not judge the cover too quickly.

I think I’m pretty lucky to have read a few books that I liked. My Life In Black And White talks about Alexa, or Lex(i), when she walks in on her best friend and her boyfriend…hooking up, and storms out of the house with her best friend’s irresponsible brother, who in turn drives her face through a windshield while trying to get her to…hook up. Hook up is a very delicate word here. Let’s not define it.

Lexi’s journey is quite a powerful one. We don’t expect someone who has been pretty all of her life to be able to get over it with a shrug. No matter how much readying, pairing it with double betrayal (cliche as it already is), she just can’t get over the fact that her face is ruined. And it’s believable. I know we should expect someone to scramble to their feet soon and ready themselves. But she’s a teenager. Not to mention a teenager who has always been called pretty, asked to be photographed. Sometimes it’s the little things, or other details that can really tear you up. How she was going to be a model. How people stares at her after she gets a skin graft. As you can probably tell already, Lexi spends a significant amount of time wallowing in self-pity, handing out invitations to her pity party, and expecting people to feel sorry for her.

Of course, people do, her best friend calls endlessly to apologize, to talk to her. Her parents make allowances.

And then, after the while, the act will be eased when the girl doesn’t bother to accept that people are trying. She throws everything in people’s faces, and then goes on to do crazy things like cut her hair (yeah, cutting your beautiful long hair is such a fabulous representation of your frustration) out of impulsiveness. Girls always go crazy like that. Yes, after a while it’s a little annoying. You do want your protagonist to stand up a little more and live for herself instead getting all bothered by what others are doing and thinking of her. Yes, she has been beautiful her whole life. Yes, it’s going to take a little bit more than determination to get over the skin grafting. But I wanted her to pick herself up from the gutter and stop going all woe-is-me sooner.

When Lexi eventually picks herself up, it’s a little too fast-paced for everything to get through. In the blink of an eye, everything changes and she decides to be a better person. However, it wasn’t the sudden-realization-I-see-the-light part where she turns into a martyr and is nice to everyone, or she gets her sweet revenge. She still struggles to grapple with reality: face reality, pun intended. But eventually, we realize that she is a good person deep underneath the layers of shallowness and the fact that she’s also selfish, wrapped up in her own tragedy and assuming others will fall in her way. There’s that classic “I wait by the phone for them to call back, but they don’t” kind of thing.

The character build-up was good, because it came so that everyone had more than one face and they were truly dimensional human beings instead of manipulated shells built from the idea of cliches, although I thought that her sister’s existence could be a little bit more elaborated upon than the obvious sarcasm and get-up-you-little-brat. It’s not a bad book by Natasha Friend. I guess I will consider reading For Keeps, in this case. I think I would have liked this story better as a bildungsroman, but it’s well-written, relatively fast-paced, and quite sweet.(less)

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Aug 26, 2012 Hinata_bonita rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have wrote this review, but i lost it and now i rewriting it T.T what a nice day ╰(˚⌣˚)╯

This book umm about girl name Alexa who was so really pretty girl who has everything, friends, popularity, boyfriend, pretty face that makes all the boys stop and staring at her and girls are frowning at her, well you get the picture.
But then, everything changed. She got accident that made her face wounded so badly, she has really hideous face (as she think she is) and she lost everthing, her two-faces fr...more I have wrote this review, but i lost it and now i rewriting it T.T what a nice day ╰(˚⌣˚)╯

This book umm about girl name Alexa who was so really pretty girl who has everything, friends, popularity, boyfriend, pretty face that makes all the boys stop and staring at her and girls are frowning at her, well you get the picture.
But then, everything changed. She got accident that made her face wounded so badly, she has really hideous face (as she think she is) and she lost everthing, her two-faces friends, her bestfriend, boyfriend, and her hockey career and soooo on

But then she realize that "Don't let your look defined you"
So she tried to changed her life, her attitude, everything.

Okay, this book reminds me a lot with before i fall by lauren oliver. But at least, alexa still alive, young, and breath. Unlike samantha kingston.

You won't find a lot of love moment in this book as the main male charater came so bit, perhaps because its not really the point of the story or i don't know, just feeling something wrong : /

Taylor, Alexa's best friend, okay she deserved what she has done, but smehow i feel sad too. As she coming from that kind of family, maybe they were so rich, but having parent like that won't make you be a good kid you know, Taylor and Jarred parent's were so ignorant, only care about themselves and blamed everything to their kids without realized who made them like that.

And her other friends, Heidi etc etc i likes them too

Not to mention she has a good lawyer father and really good mom. And she has a sister too, while Lexa has the pretty face, her sister Ruthie has the smart brain, and so upredictble -_-

I won't say a lot about this book, but my favorite moment was when Taylor and Alexa be friend again, in the upstair! That's cool yo

And for your information, Lexa will be a boxer later! Hhaha that's explained a lot, why i think this book really far from what i was expected. That's wasn't compliment to be honest with you, but its still worth to read anyway. Altough I'm kinda regret why i spent my long time for this kind of story hhaha i mean i didnt really have the emotions when i read this, i didn't laugh, let alone crying -_- or jumping lol. But yeah, its has a few of life lessons too anyway and i really appreciate that. I'm going to sleep now, i will make sure I'm not wewriting this review for the third time.(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Dorian rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel has a pretty dramatic synopsis. Before I read it, I geared myself up for a novel that is filled with pointless drama, and a melodramatic protagonist. I didn't think that I would like it very much, from what I could gather from the synopsis. When I started reading it though, it was much different than what I thought it would be.

Reasons to Read:

1.Good portrayal of true friendship

The novel's main focus is the friendship between protagonist and her best friend. Flashbacks are written so...more This novel has a pretty dramatic synopsis. Before I read it, I geared myself up for a novel that is filled with pointless drama, and a melodramatic protagonist. I didn't think that I would like it very much, from what I could gather from the synopsis. When I started reading it though, it was much different than what I thought it would be.

Reasons to Read:

1.Good portrayal of true friendship

The novel's main focus is the friendship between protagonist and her best friend. Flashbacks are written so that we get to see how their friendship was before the accident. These two are as close as sisters. They don't have a perfect relationship, but the way that it has lasted so long shows us just how much they care about each other. Even after the accident, it is clear that the two still do care about each other; although neither of them will admit it. I liked how the question of whether or not you can still reconcile with a friend even after a betrayal was brought up.

2.Lexi's character change

At the beginning of the novel, lexi is the typical spoiled, popular snob. The accident takes its toll on her by basically taking away everything that made her popular. This forces lexi to change; for both good and bad. Her development as a character flows beautifully with the pacing of the novel. When the end of the novel comes, you can really tell that she has changed a lot as a person through the circumstances that she is put in.

Although I did really like this novel, I had two problems with it. Firstly, I found the back-and-forth switch between past and present to be really confusing. I was glad when that stopped later on.

Secondly, lexi could be so whiny and annoying at times. She whined about the smallest things. She just expected the world to fall at her feet, though I think she was purposely written that way to show her change in character and emphasize what she had lost. Despite these problems, I did like this book and recommend it to contemporary fans.

ARC received from Penguin Canada for my honest review; no other compensation was received.(less)

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Aug 04, 2012 Ivana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-complete-turn, cough, do-judge-a-book-by-it-s-first-10-ch, it-was-okay, major-letdown, that-s-all-folks, ummm-yeah

Summary:

Alexa is beautiful. She's been told that since before the time should could understand. After seeing something awful occur between her BFF and BF, her face catapults through the windshield. Without her beauty, Alexa can barely even define herself. Luckily, she finds that she has a kickass sister, a few new friends, and a guy she never spared a glance to help her out.

Review:
If you look at my bookshelves, you'll see that I thought there was a complete turn in this book.

Unfortunately, I wo...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book took me less then 24 hours to read. I LOVED IT.

Let me start by telling you a bit of what this book is about. (I'll try not to give out TOO many spoilers!)

Lexi has the perfect life. She's beautiful, and she knows it, because its all that people have ever been telling her. Lexi's beauty defines her. She has an amazing best friend, Taylor, and a gorgeous boyfriend, Ryan. Lexi is popular.

Then one day, one party, changes everything.

At a party hosted by (none other than) Taylor's brother J...more

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Jul 15, 2012 readknitread rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school-reads, realistic-fiction

I can't decide if I like Lexi or if I want to slap her. On one hand she does live through a horrific accident. On the other I think she plays that up and is a spoiled brat. But that could just be through the eyes of an adult. I'm sure through the eyes of a teen everything is as really my life is over as Lexi makes it out to be.

Since she was old enough to remember Lexi has always been described as beautiful. People stop her on the street to tell her that. Photographers want to take her picture....more

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Jul 01, 2012 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bullies, families, friendship, identity, ncbla2013, school, self-esteem

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Lexi has just about everything going for her as she prepares for her sophomore year. She and her best friend Taylor are as tight as ever, she's dating handsome and well-mannered Ryan, and she is drop-dead gorgeous. That is until the night everything changes. At a party, she is betrayed by Taylor and Ryan, and is injured in a car wreck while fending off advances from Taylor's older brother. She awakens to facial disfigurement and surgery to erase as much of the damage as possible. But this is a d...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Liviania rated it 4 of 5 stars

MY LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE ended up on the bottom of my June pile because neither the title nor the cover caught my eye. Then I opened the book, read the blurb, and fell in love with the premise. Lexi has always judged herself and been judged based on her beauty. Then her face goes through a windshield. Multiple facial reconstructive surgeries later, Lexi doesn't know who she is or who her friends are.

Lexi's journey is a powerful one. I think I would feel that way even if I wasn't a fan of cha...more MY LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE ended up on the bottom of my June pile because neither the title nor the cover caught my eye. Then I opened the book, read the blurb, and fell in love with the premise. Lexi has always judged herself and been judged based on her beauty. Then her face goes through a windshield. Multiple facial reconstructive surgeries later, Lexi doesn't know who she is or who her friends are.

Lexi's journey is a powerful one. I think I would feel that way even if I wasn't a fan of character-driven books. She's clueless at the beginning, and often self-centered, but never annoying. And she has good qualities from the beginning. She has a strong sense of loyalty to her friends, defending them to her family when they call them shallow and back-stabbing. At first it seems like her family was right all along. After all, Lexi wouldn't have even been in that car if her best friend and boyfriend hadn't betrayed her. It's fascinating to see her go from despair to holding her head high to not worrying about if people are looking.

But MY LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE's greatest strength is the complexity of the characters. Despite the title, this is a book that lives in shades of grey. No one is all good or all bad. Characters might make mistakes, act petty, or otherwise misbehave, but they often own up to their behavior or do something totally unrelated that's valiant. (Be warned that there are some scenes of sexual assault - not rape - and one perpetrator gets away with it.) Sometimes it's just Lexi's perception changing. I loved the moment when she finally realizes that her older sister Ruthie is super cool - something the reader could tell from the beginning.

The romance between Theo and Lexi is well done. It builds slowly, through interaction and shared interests. Many books would just redeem Ryan (the ex) and have him and Lexi get back together. Instead, Natasha Friend both gives Ryan more depth and creates a second love interest who fits better with the more introspective Lexi.

If you're looking for a moving, intelligent contemporary YA, look no further than MY LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE. It's a keeper. (less)

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May 21, 2012 Alexa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012-advisory

Alexa, the protagonist recently got into a car accident. The accident was very bad, and she ended up getting surgery for her face. Getting this operation done completely change her life. Before she was considered the prettiest girl in the world, and now she is know as the girl with the messed up face. To make this accident worse, it basically happened because she caught her boyfriend cheating on her with her best friend, Taylor. Alexa then makes rules, and these rules are how she is going to now...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Cayla rated it 3 of 5 stars

My Life in Black and White is a story all about finding who you are in the most dramatic way possible. Alexa used to have the perfect life. She was breathtakingly beautiful in all aspects, she had a sister she didn’t fight with much, a mom she bonded with constantly, a father who could fix anything, a best friend named Taylor she did everything with, a boyfriend - Ryan - who she loved and who loved her, and popularity. Everything was absolutely perfect.

Well, that is, until the night of a certain...more My Life in Black and White is a story all about finding who you are in the most dramatic way possible. Alexa used to have the perfect life. She was breathtakingly beautiful in all aspects, she had a sister she didn’t fight with much, a mom she bonded with constantly, a father who could fix anything, a best friend named Taylor she did everything with, a boyfriend - Ryan - who she loved and who loved her, and popularity. Everything was absolutely perfect.

Well, that is, until the night of a certain party when she walked in on her best friend giving her boyfriend a blowjob… talk about an awful party. In rage, Alexa stormed out of the house and hitched a ride from Taylor’s brother Jarrod. On the way home, Jarrod and Alexa get into a car crash, and Alexa’s head is shoved through a windshield. Now, everything that made Alexa’s world perfect is gone. Her face is totally screwed up from the accident and it will never be the same, so there goes her beauty, she lost her best friend and boyfriend when she found them together, her sister is becoming more and more active in her life - and maybe not in a good way, her parents are becoming more distant, and her popularity was gone the minute she had to get a piece of skin from her butt stuck onto her face. My Life in Black and White focuses on finding who you truly are and finding out who cares for you most, even without the prettiest face or the best social status. Alexa has lost everything, and she wants to gain it back.

All in all, My Life in Black and White was a very touching and believable story that really makes you think about what would happen if the things and people that made you you suddenly just disappeared. Friend has a very modern style of writing, which would be okay had she not tried so hard. Trying to relate to teenagers nowadays through writing is a very difficult thing to do, so it’s easy to understand why Friend didn’t necessarily do well in that aspect. Some parts of the novel were repetitive and worded oddly, but thankfully that doesn’t take away from the beautiful story of finding yourself that Friend tells. Similarly, a few details in the book were very, very coincidental, a little bit too coincidental, but sometimes life is quite coincidental, and you have to keep thinking that while reading this novel or else you may not enjoy it as much as I did.

Overall rating: 7/10(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! Once in awhile it's nice to get away from the YA paranormal genre, even if it is my favorite. I really enjoyed seeing Alexa actually grow and I didn't want to put the book down. I really became involved in Alexa's world.

Alexa, or Lexi as her friends call her, has always been told she is beautiful. From the time she was just a little girl, she grew up with strangers coming up to her and telling her mother what a gorgeous child she was. There are pictures in every corn...more I really enjoyed this book! Once in awhile it's nice to get away from the YA paranormal genre, even if it is my favorite. I really enjoyed seeing Alexa actually grow and I didn't want to put the book down. I really became involved in Alexa's world.

Alexa, or Lexi as her friends call her, has always been told she is beautiful. From the time she was just a little girl, she grew up with strangers coming up to her and telling her mother what a gorgeous child she was. There are pictures in every corner of the house of her. In fact, she became friends with her best friend, Taylor, because of how pretty she was. Now, Lexi and Taylor are about to begin high school. They are the "it" girls and super popular. Lexi has a great (and super cute) boyfriend, Ryan too.

One fateful night, Lexi and Taylor decide to go to a party. That night changes Lexi's life forever. After seeing something that completely breaks her heart and shocks her, Lexi takes off from the party. She ends up in a car accident that scars her face. She is no longer known as the "beautiful" girl but the girl with the "scarred face".

Now Lexi must get through life without her looks. She comes to realize that her looks aren't what define her. She must deal with what she saw at the party and she is able to bond with her older sister, Ruth.

Lexi did whine a lot in this book but you have to realize, she is young and immature and has always counted on her looks. While she threw herself pity parties on a regular basis, you really couldn't fault her all that much. At age 33, if I had my face scarred up, I would probably whine for awhile too! Lexi has always been told how beautiful she is and now all of the sudden, she isn't "beautiful" anymore. I love how she finds other ways to become beautiful instead of just her face.

I really liked Ruth. She didn't put up with Lexi's pity parties at all. She didn't walk on eggshells around Lexi, just told her how it was. Yes, it is horrible that Lexi's face is messed up but guess what? Lexi was ALIVE! Ruth was the least shallow person in Lexi's life.

This book had some moments that made me very happy I am passed that stage of my life but it was a very good read. Lexi was a very forgiving person (way more than I would have been!) and she had to deal with some serious issues. She overcame them though and became a better person in the process. This is a book that you won't want to put down though!(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 Shawna rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had a hard time getting into this. Alexa was just not a pleasant person to read about. She came across as a very shallow person, and a spoiled rotten brat. For the first 2/3rds of the book I relied on Ruthie to get me through, as she made very valid points and tried to hold Alexa accountable.

I think a lot of why I kept reading was that it was well written, and the story kept moving. I also expected some angst/self-centered-ness simply from the subject matter. I'm happy to say that in this cas...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2013

I liked the novel but there were some flaws. My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend tells the story of Lexi who is in a car accident where she goes through the windshield and disfigures her face. Before the accident Lexi was beautiful. She was popular, had a hot boyfriend, and was about to start modeling. Her life revolved around her looks. Lexi defined herself by her looks. After the car accident, Lexi struggles with her new identity. She thinks that because she is no longer beautiful, no...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Sally Kruger added it

I am so glad to be able to begin a new school year with a new Natasha Friend novel. Her books are incredibly popular with the girls in my classroom, and they are going to love this one.

MY LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE begins with a car accident that changes the life of one teenage girl. Lexi, angry at her best friend Taylor, makes the decision to accept a ride from Taylor's brother, and that ride ends with Lexi's face smashing into the windshield.

Used to getting all the attention by being the beautifu...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

Often times young adult novels are all poor me, my tragic life...I'm an awesome kid and look at all the bad things that happen to me.
This one is not that, well, it is but not in that formulaic way of most YA novels.

Lexi is beautiful, she's been told that her whole life..it's who she is. So when her face is damaged in a car accident she feels her life is pretty much over. In addition to the physical scars she's left with emotional scars from the events immediately before the accident.

At first blu...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lexi has always been known as beautiful, gorgeous, and hot. She is in love with her boyfriend Ryan, has a great best friend Taylor, and is about to start 10th grade which is high school where she lives. The summer before high school begins, she attends a party at her best friend Taylor's house. She can't find Taylor and she gets worried she might be too drunk and could need help so she searches the house and finds her friend Heidi guarding the door. At this point in the book my heart was already...more Lexi has always been known as beautiful, gorgeous, and hot. She is in love with her boyfriend Ryan, has a great best friend Taylor, and is about to start 10th grade which is high school where she lives. The summer before high school begins, she attends a party at her best friend Taylor's house. She can't find Taylor and she gets worried she might be too drunk and could need help so she searches the house and finds her friend Heidi guarding the door. At this point in the book my heart was already beating super fast and I was feeling nauseous. Nothing worse than the betrayal of a close friend. Lexi opens the door and finds her best friend of ten years with her boyfriend. Lexi gets Taylor's brother, Jarrod, to drive her home and they get into a car crash.

Lexi's face will never be the same. She also has no friends to support her. That was the most heartbreaking part of this story for me. Not just that Lexi has to go through surgeries and identity issues but that she has no one to help her through it. No one to stand beside her as she enters high school. I thought all her friends were awful even before the cheating and accident. She definitely shouldn't forgive them. But if I had made such a horrible mistake, I would have been at her house everyday with presents begging for forgiveness. I would have sent letters and did everything I could. I felt like Taylor didn't even make a good effort. She texted and left some voice messages. Big fricken whoop after what she did. Personally it is just something I would never forgive period but even her other friends should have been more supportive. Taylor's brother, Jarrod, never even apologized! And the crash was his fault basically.

Lexi goes through so many emotions and I felt them all right along with her. I was so angry myself I wanted to jump in the book and just get revenge on everyone. lol Lexi is angry, sad, depressed. She doesn't want to leave the house or let anyone see her. She has a lot of freak outs. Eventually she realizes that her evil ex best friend and ex boyfriend are at high school living their lives and that she should be out there. She should not be the one suffering while they are happy. I definitely understood and agreed. Everyone else did wrong but Lexi suffered the most. Lexi gathers up the strength to face high school all alone. She has to deal with all the fake smiles, gossip, and Ryan still trying to talk to her. Lexi ignores him and Taylor as she should and tries to redefine herself. Everything is changed so she might as well change.

Lexi used to enjoy school spirit, football games, and things like that. Now she just can't be the same person. She goes through wardrobe and attitude adjustments. Her older, more geeky, sister helps along the way. I was very sad watching Lexi struggle. The book is not romance heavy which I did like. Lexi works hard on her own to overcome her differences. I hate when a boy swopes in the just makes everything better. It doesn't happen like that. Lexi had to work through things on her own first. Then when she is doing better she meets a nice boy named Theo. He understands beauty is more than skin deep after losing a sister to an eating disorder. He is a good listener and introduces Lexi to boxing to get her anger out.

I don't think she should have ever forgave her friends. During all the flashbacks it seemed like Taylor was never a good friend. Taylor and Heidi were both so jealous, which is understandable, but the way they treated their friend was not okay. But Lexi is definitely a way better person than Taylor or me even. When Taylor goes through a traumatic crisis, instead of ditching her the way Taylor ditched her, she steps up and tries to help. I never would have. Lexi was a very strong character. Even though at times she had freak outs and had plans of revenge she always did the right thing. I teared up quite a bit during the book. I was easily able to connect and feel all of the anguish Lexi went through.

"While my mother cried, I had one nauseating, hysterical thought. I'll be a butt-face! Literally!"

"Sometimes a girl needs to squirt butter on people...or throw ice cream at the wall or a plate across the room...and it's not that she's proud of this behavior...it's just...well, she needs to flip out once in a while. To relieve the pressure."

"My point is...okay, there's this term in boxing, kissing the canvas. It's when someone get knocked down face-first. After Becks died, that was me. I could barely get out of bed. But you...kissed the canvas and got up."(less)

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Jul 22, 2012 Madie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 30, 2012 Avery rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the sort of book that reminds me that I really must expand my reading horizons, that I shouldn't always go directly to paranormal/ fantasy reads, that every now and again I should veer off and pick up a contemporary read.

While there was many things that I enjoyed about this book, a unique and gripping storyline, a storyline that plays on the emotions of its readers and the likes of, my most favourite part was Lexi herself. I find that in the vast majority of books I read the main charac...more This is the sort of book that reminds me that I really must expand my reading horizons, that I shouldn't always go directly to paranormal/ fantasy reads, that every now and again I should veer off and pick up a contemporary read.

While there was many things that I enjoyed about this book, a unique and gripping storyline, a storyline that plays on the emotions of its readers and the likes of, my most favourite part was Lexi herself. I find that in the vast majority of books I read the main characters never learn, they constantly make the same mistake over and over again, they are stubborn and pigheaded through and through, however I didn't find that the case with Lexi whatsoever- she actually grew throughout the book, becoming a much better person than she had been before her accident. And as result I think that she is a true role model and someone that you can learn a lot from. I can admit with no problem that she is a much better person than myself- I doubt that had I been in her circumstances that I would have been so forgiving.

Furthermore, I thought that Lexi's sister, Ruthie, was one of the best secondary characters I have read of in a very long time. Unlike the vast majority of secondary characters I have read of, who are mere fillers, Ruthie actually made a difference/ impacted the storyline (plus, her personality totally rocked and reminds me of a lot of my close friends).

That being said, I wasn't entirely satisfied by this book, I was a but disappointed with the ending- I didn't find that it was quite as strong as the first 3/4 of the book. I found that it was a tad rushed and I thought that the epilogue was extremely flat (which I find surprising as I am the sort of person who NEEDS an epilogue). Furthermore, I wish that Theo had played a larger role in the book (seriously, I would take Theo over Ryan any day of the week).

All in all, I think that this is a wonderful coming-of-age/ recovering-from-a-traumatic-event type of story and a story that appeals to all YA readers no matter their genre preference. I am very curious to see what Natasha has in store for us next (and whether she intends for this to be a series). (less)

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Nov 28, 2012 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the story of Lexi whose about to go into her sophomore year of high school when her life is shattered. Before this, she has everything a teenage girl could ask for. She has her best friend Taylor, her handsome boyfriend Ryan and the looks other girls would die for. Little does she know what she is in store for.
There was one party. One heart break. Lexi wakes up in the hospital trying to recover all the details she remembers from the previous night. The one thing she cannot forget is wal...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finished this book pretty quickly, and im not sure why. It's not much of an exciting book, just one that makes you think. It made me realize who would i be if i lost my obvious characteristics. It's a book that makes you stop and realize how grateful you really should be. Lexi was a character that was hard to come to terms with. I desperately just wanted her to stop trying to be tough and just cry into her mother's arms. This book also brings back the topic of how mean kids can be, and how actio...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Newport Librarians rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ms-colleen, ya-fiction

Fantastic! Looking for a realistic novel that can accurately portray high school life?

This novel follows Lexi; the girl who has always been drop-dead stunning gorgeous. She's smart, she's the most popular girl in school, and her biggest worry to date has been if someone thought she was a snob. After catching her best friend with her boyfriend at the end of 8th grade graduation, she leaves a party with an older boy to get a ride home. The car crashes, and Lexi's face basically goes through the w...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Purcheria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-on-my-e-reader, contemporary, emotional-baggage

This book for me was okay. It dealt with a subject matter that was hard to deal with. And although the story had the potential too be really good, it just did not do it for me. Mainly because of the protagonist. I really did not like her too much. And instead of finding myself rooting for her, I wanted to "box her ears". Most of the time she came off as being selfish, rude and self-centred, which considering what she went through may be understandable, but by the end of the book, she hadn't real...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Emilie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall, the book was good. Well written, true to life, etc.. However, I did think there were many parts of it that we're a bit cliché. The storyline had been done. The main character starts off with a perfect life, she's rich, she's beautiful, and her boyfriend looks like a model. Then the boyfriend cheats on her, she freaks out, loses all her friends, and becomes, essentially, a loser. Of course, in the end, everyone makes up and she finds true love. In my opinion, a bit cheesy and overdone....more

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Sep 25, 2012 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, ya, pbook, library-book

Lexi has always been the beautiful girl, the girl that people liked or disliked because of how she looked. So when her face is damaged in a car accident she has to figure out who she really is and also come to terms with the actions of her friends and family before the accident, and after.

I wish I could give this book 3.5 stars. I liked it quite a bit, but probably not as much as compared to other 4-star books. Lexi's character was a little bit too in denial for me and too many of the other char...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Becky rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, brothers-and-sisters, mean-girls

I had a lot of problems with this book. Top of the list, I suppose, is the way it treated voyeurism and sexual abuse. It's like the author wanted to say something meaningful about those things, as well as about what it means to be a young woman and a sexual object and believing that your beauty is all that you have, but it never really got there. It ended up being, I thought, a rather shallow statement.
It also bothers me how girls in stories like this - girls who are ugly on the inside - manage...more

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About Natasha Friend

A writer and full time mom, Natasha (Tasha, Tash) Friend has taught at the Brearley School in New York City and Ecole Bilingue in Cambridge. She also served as Director of the Brimmer and May Summer Camp in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Her writing has appeared in "Family Fun" magazine and "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul." Tash lives in Connecticut with her husband and two little boys.

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“Well, you're not [fat]. You have, like, the ideal balance of fat and muscle. ...If I were a cannibal, I'd eat you.” — 6 people liked it

“If my mother were a bumper sticker, she would read THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE. Taylor's mom would read WHY THE F*** NOT?” — 5 people liked it

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