A Pain Less Ordinary

by L.V. Pires

Becca's life is anything but ordinary.

At fifteen, she's already experienced her share of pain. With a mom who drinks too much, a revolving door of father figures, and struggles at school, Becca wonders if she'll ever have a chance at a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane is her little sister, Chloe; that is, until her mother's breakdown leads to her sister's disappearance.

A PAIN LESS ORDINARY follows Becca as she figures out life on her own while searching for her family and her new role in the world.

In this powerfully moving novel, L.V. Pires explores Becca's struggle with abandonment, drug abuse, homelessness, relationships, and how pain connects her to others.

Genres: Young Adult

237 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2017

About the author

With several books in the top 100 U.S. Horror Fiction and Horror Classics categories, award-winning novelist and short-story writer, L.V. Pires is the author of terrifying tales that are sure to keep readers up late into the night. Mystery and suspense climax into total terror in this author's latest releases, including THE WAITING MORTUARY, VIGIL BLACK, and DEATH WATCH.

For more information about this author or to join the mailing list, go to www.lisavpires.com

Reviews

[Mckenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Pain is sometimes temporary. Sometimes it lasts a lifetime. The past can haunt for a night and then just as easily vanish in the day. It can hide for years and return when you least expect it. It can kill you, and it can save you." WOW!!!!! What an amazing book following a young girl who was forced to grow up quickly due to alcoholism in her family along with dealing with problems no 15 year old should. Amazing what someone so young can and will do for their family. Beautifully painted, yet brutally honest picture of life with an alcoholic family member and being part of the foster care system. Absolutely loved this book!

[Wendy Rinebold · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this as an audiobook for review.

I see a lot of 5 star reviews and I am really happy for this author. For me, this was not something I would read/listen to again. Courtney Parker, the narrator, did a fantastic job. My main problem was with the story. There were too many things that I felt were left unfinished. What was the point of Nick? He was a jerk and Becca was too nice to him. So he called the police when she almost died. Is that supposed to make him a hero? He was pathetic and I can't imagine what type of person he will be as an adult. He actually had the nerve to compare his life to hers while she is living in a homeless shelter.
I was also disappointed with Zephyr, only because I really liked the character. I wanted him to stay and bring some sort of light into Becca's life.
But the characters were the main problem for me and this story. I wasn't connected. I was reading this book about this tragic girl but I wasn't invested in what happened to her. I really wish I were. I thought the book had amazing potential, it just didn't click with me. I am really glad that other readers disagree.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the audiobook version of this book.
This was quite short and felt a bit more like a short story or novella. For that reason it started right into the story without a huge build up. Becca has so much to deal with, unsupportive parent figures and difficulties at school. But when her mum disappears with her little sister Chloe, she tries to fight back and fix her life. Through the book she gets stronger and learns to cope.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Becca and the things she goes through are heartbreaking at times. I was a bit confused by Becca's mum, she sounded very protective of her at first, when she was younger, but then seems extremely neglectful and uncaring in the present. Also I was really expecting the headaches to have some significance to the story as they are mentioned a lot.
The reading was a bit too dramatic for a story like this and made it feel too tense, even when nothing much was happening.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was fine and the narration was fine although a bit slow (I listened to the audiobook at 1.15x speed).
My issue with this story is with the characters and plot being inconsistent and not believable.
The main character was unlikeable. There was one scene were she was really horrible to some kid who asked to sit in the seat beside her on the school bus. She then decided she was a nice person and called him back, then she freaked out and shoved past him to get off the bus.
The love interest, Nick, was a horrible person.
The mother and step-father were both inconsistent characters with constantly changing motivations.
The baby sister was a complete angel that everyone was fighting over - it was like the author had never met a 2-yr old before.
The best friend who I'm assuming was also 15, also had 2-yr old siblings. Having one 15-yr-old was a toddler sibling is fine especially considering the mother's character, but having a second character with a 13-yr age gap between siblings is not believable without explanation.
The shelter the main character is sent to to "protect her" while her mother has disappeared, has a minor sharing a room with an adult while other adults of both genders roamed the halls while drunk and others ODing, not to mention the main character ended up covered in bed bug bites the first night and was still forced to go back there. She them 'makes friends' with a non-English speaking mother who stole her stuff.
The main character's best friend's mum couldn't possibly look after her when the mum first disappears except for at the end of the book where suddenly everyone wants to help out (even when they didn't before) and suddenly even all the problems at the shelter have magically disappeared.
Also not believable is a bully from school pretending to be the main character's mum in a text to lure her into an ambush. Like the character wouldn't know the difference between a message from my mum's phone and one from a completely different phone.
Overall, this story didn't work for me.

[Jessica G · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, thank you to the author, Lisa V Pires and Goodreads Giveaways for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I originally, right before the end of my exams started reading this in which I was absolutely loving it but unfortunately had to stop. Honestly it sucked, because I seriously was loving what I had read so far.
However as of today, I can say that I have finally finished this book and it literally blew my mind. I started it again and finished it within hours - pretty much read it in one sitting, I was so engrossed.

What really impressed me about this novel was the fact that it wasn’t like anything else I had ever read. I’m always reading contemporaries and although I love them to death, the formula is essentially the same for most of them. ‘A Pain Less Ordinary’ on the other hand was completely original, the characters fresh and inspiring with a raw, honest depiction of life.
The harsh, gruelling nature of the life of protagonist, Becca and the deterioration of the life she had always known, kept me on edge throughout the whole story. It was eerie reading about something so real and honest, from a life I have never experienced. And the novel really brought a whole different group of characters - different than the usual standard ones in most novels - to light. Reading about all of the characters and relationships was truly something unique and different to what I’ve known in my YA travels.

Definitely a novel I will be pushing so many to be reading. Possibly even one of my favourites or even my absolute favourite read of the year. So guys, check it out on Amazon, support the author and get the word out!

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book. I kept thinking that Becca could be any one of my students. The problem is I could name some of them who have been in a situation similar. As I was reading this story I thought back to two years ago when a student came and talked with me. She was extremely depressed. She lived with her aunt and her mom was trying to re-establish contact. She didn’t know how to feel about it. Her mom had been an alcoholic and a drug user. She and her younger sister, who was two years old, were always hungry. Her younger sister tried to open the open the oven door. The stove was propped up in the back and was unstable enough it fell on her crushing her. This young girl spoke of trying to lift the stove off of her sister. She spoke of trying to wake her drunk mother up and hearing her mother blame her. I had not thought of that until I read this book. There are so many Becca’s out there. Their story is just as heart-wrenching. Yet there is hope for them. Sometimes it comes from the unexpected. In this review, I am not going to speak more about the book. This was one of those that caused me to make a connection to real life. Enough said. I would highly recommend this book and will purchase it for my shelves at school. Like I said, there are other Becca’s out there or people who know Becca’s and they need to read this story.
I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Lissa Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this arc from Hidden Gems in exchange for an honest review! Heartbreaking and poignant! This book was painful to read in the sense that the way it was written , this could have been anyone’s family in today’s society. It still deserves a 5 star rating because it was so relatable and well written! Rebecca is 15 living with her mother and her revolving door of boyfriends and stepdads. Becca just wants to have me the typical teen age life of fun, going to school and being a kid.Becca's one saving grace is her sister Chloe, but when her mother has a meltdown and abandons her, things go from bad to worse. Now she is left with no place to go and the disappearance of her mother and sister leave her to figure out life.
“I overwhelmed by the sadness in the room. I can’t breathe. I don’t want to be here anymore. It’s like I was in an accident. I was cruising down the road, learning to drive,learning from Mom, she wasn’t the best coach, but she was a coach, and then suddenly, without warning, the car flipped. My body was tossed in the air and landed along the road, twisted and torn up, and now I’m in this dark, stale room with a bunch of other kids whose lives have intersected with tragedy.”

[Angela (Kentuckybooklover) Brocato-Skaggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking read. That is the only way I can describe this book. I am so glad to have read it. I started reading this book at 4am and rarely put it down until I was finished. Being a substitute teacher it made me think about some of the students I see on a regular basis and how you truly never know what is going on at home.

Becca is a high school student trying to pass her classes while raising her baby sister and trying to keep her family together. During a moment of anger she tells her mom about her step-father's cheating and things spiral out of control quickly. Follow Becca as she tries to put her family back together again and learns how strong she really is.

You will cry, scream at the injustice of the CPS system and the cruelty kids can inflict on one another. I would definitely use this book in my high school classroom in hopes it would teach kids to have compassion and to build each other up instead of tearing each other down out of spite and meanness.

Thank you to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review based on my words.

[Ayezu Tamarapreye Okoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for the searchers of home .It tells of Becca and Authur who cheats on her and her strong mom who handles pain with ease.It looks at Becca's mom handling her manhandles and those who took advantage of narrator and her mom he doesn't care .It tells of Becca and her mom's lack of trust for men due to pain from their snowball.Her mom's luck of not having the police come after her in payment for her temper against her hurters.Her mom dealing with her hurt and family problem on her own .It looks at the Becca's contending with academics and family problems.It looks at battling people creating hurts and mess with neglect and no one to clean things up by Becca.
It looks at Michelle as Becca's families hope and the pain(out-in with Pa for out in ijaw) of lack of trust of Becca.It looks at Becca's relationship with Nick as a volunteer in life as a pain(pay-in) less ordinary.It highlights the importance of friendship and school and the trust of men looking at whether it was wrong to do so and whether such was prone to fluctuation and inconsistency.

[Denny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only for young adults.

A Pain Less Ordinary is a remarkable story written from the perspective of a teenage girl trying to survive her damaged family.

Some of the best writing can be found in the teen and young adult literary genre. Can you say “beautifully written” when the theme is about damaged people? This is certainly extremely well written technically and emotionally.

The author takes the reader on Rebecca’s journey so that I felt her pain, helplessness and hope. Yet this isn’t just the story of a teenage girl. I also saw glimpses of the lives of those people she encounters, from the weaknesses and flaws of those who should have cared for her, to the struggles of those tasked with helping.

This has everything I look for in a good novel. Great writing, well developed characters, strong themes, a sense that I have learned something and that I have been moved by a story that is someone’s reality.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an easy read. With the theme of a teenager having to handle an alcoholic mum and her endless releationships, fighting for her little stepsister and the looming doom of failing school, the author done a great job in writing this situation very realistic. Becca is not a heroic teenager who is a better mother than her own. She makes mistakes, lets her rage give way to her tongue.
But with all the history of her upbringing, her distrust in love, how can there be hope for her? We see her spiraling downwards and are helpless. And we see some ugly people who think they can step on the ones who are already down. The question is, can Becca find a way out of this Pain Less Ordinary?
I would recommend this book to everybody who works with teenagers but also teenagers and young adults.

I have requested an ARC for review purposes and this is my unbiased opinion.

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hurt to read. It was very well written, making Becca’s pain and burdens of attempting to raise her toddler sister while attending school and, later, trying to find her mother and sister that much more real.

I really enjoyed this book. Some parts felt a little circular, like the monotony of Becca’s days trying to put forth the appearance of normalcy while looking for her mother and sister, but it’s not so bad that you lose interest.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[PelicanFreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gripping read that sent me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions—there’s heartache (lots of that), laughs, searing anger, hope, outrage … just to name a few. I liked it. A few little aspects felt implausible to me, but one thing the author seemed to do well was paint what an absolute joke our ‘systems’ are—all of them. Mental health, physical health, child ‘protection’ services and more. Well done, overall.

4 stars.


Audio:
This narrator did a great job and the overall sound quality is good—professional. 4 stars.

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Pain Less Ordinary is a brutally honesty story about the struggles of Becca's heartbreaking world. She's surrounded by stepfathers that come and go, a mother who degrades her regularly, then leaves her to fend for herself. The only family she really loves is her little sister but she's ripped from her life suddenly as well. A Pain Less Ordinary is a brutally honest portrayal of a teenagers worst nightmare. It was rare, real and beautiful. Not an easy read but a very important one.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A pain shared is a pain halved."
Becca is struggling through high school and life. A controlling step father, an addicted mother, a two year old sister. Bullies at school and one true friend. Abandoned by her parents, she has to battle the homeless shelter and the system. I'm afraid it's all too real.
The narrator did an excellent job presenting Becca's story. She read with proper expression and distinction. 5 stars for her as well.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really sad at times, and brought up some past traumas of my own. I couldn’t stop listening, I had to know how things turned out for Becca and Chloe. The story was believable and well-written.