The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun Hutchinson → Start Date: February 2, 2015

[Katie]

Vicki, Clarence, and I will be reading this. Anyone else is welcome to join.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

I'm in!

[Vicki]

YIPPEE!! Welcome, Trisha!

[Katie]

Awesome! Glad you're joining us, Trisha.

[[deleted user]]

Yay! :)

[Katie]

I just went and preordered the hardcover of this today. I'm so excited to read it!

[Katie]

I received my preorder of this today, and I wasn't expecting it until Friday, since it comes out tomorrow, and it usually takes about 3 days for my preorders to come.

[Vicki]

How exciting!! I'm jealous! Lol

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

yay! I already have my copy too!! I'll be starting later tonight!

[Vicki]

I am so frustrated! I am first in the queue but the book is still listed as "available soon." If I buy the ebook it's $10.99. I'm in the same position with another book coming out soon that I am buddy reading and I'm 2nd in the queue for that one.

These new books are never "on time."

[Katie]

I've read about 1 and a half chapters of this so far. I'm hoping I can get through 5 tonight so I can do a post about the first 5 chapters. 5 chapters is about 55 pages, so I think I can do it.

[Vicki]

Good luck, Katie!

[Katie]

Thanks, Vicki!

[Katie]

I've read the first 5 chapters, and it's interesting so far.

Rusty (view spoiler)[What happened to him was awful. It's awful that people do things like that. (hide spoiler)]

the baby boy (view spoiler)[That scene was so sad. I can't imagine what it would be like to be that boy's parents, having to see him unable to be saved. (hide spoiler)]

Lexi/Trevor (view spoiler)[I like both of them. I hope Trevor gets better, and that he and Lexi will admit their feelings for each other. (hide spoiler)]

[Gisbelle]

The baby (view spoiler)[ it was very sad indeed :( (hide spoiler)]

Lexi/Trevor (view spoiler)[ I loved them both! (hide spoiler)]

I hope you like the rest of the book as well.

[Katie]

Thank you! I hope I do too.

[Vicki]

SO MAD!! I paid $10.99 for my ebook and it arrived at the library today. OMG Yesterday it said "available soon" which usually doesn't mean "tomorrow." LOL

[Katie]

Oh man, that's annoying that it comes in right after you buy it. Also, $10.99 seems expensive for an ebook.

[Vicki]

Exactly! I bought 2 books last night that were costly. The other one said the same thing, and since my buddy read for the other book started today I figured I just needed to buy it.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Vicki wrote: "Exactly! I bought 2 books last night that were costly. The other one said the same thing, and since my buddy read for the other book started today I figured I just needed to buy it."

ugh...SO SO sorry Vicki. That is SO frustrating :(

[Vicki]

I know! Thanks, Trisha. I just wanted to start when you girls did, but I'd have waited if I had ANY idea it would arrive today.

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

6 chapters

Rusty (view spoiler)[ that poor poor kid. I love that they are finding a shared bond.
'Andrew' feels way way too much for people in there. his compassion must be so heavy (hide spoiler)]

the baby (view spoiler)[ omg that was awful (hide spoiler)]

Lexi and Trevor(view spoiler)[ I like them too but I worry. andrew isn't sick, so he may outlive the all :( (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Finished Ch. 5 (LONG day today!)

Rusty (view spoiler)[What a horrific thing...to be set on fire because of your sexual orientation? OMG! Any reason is horrible, of course, but for that reason? Because you disagree with how someone else chooses to live their life! ugh...AWFUL!!! (hide spoiler)]

Do I understand the story correctly? Is Drew (view spoiler)[homeless? Is that why he stays in the hospital in those places no one else remembers about? (hide spoiler)]

I do like the interaction among all of the people in the hospital, but I am worried that (view spoiler)[Trevor won't live. If he does, it will be a miracle. (hide spoiler)]

Lexi and Trevor (view spoiler)[are cute together, but I feel like in some ways that Lexi is saying some of the things she does to boost his spirits, and they have that common bond of being sick. (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

Vicki, I think Drew is (view spoiler)[homeless, since he does seem to live in the hospital, but I think we'll find more out about that later. (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

I finished chapter 10. I'm liking this so far.

Drew (view spoiler)[It seems like his parents died and that he had a sister named Cady who was younger who died too. I guess the question now is, how did they die and why does he blame himself? I'm not sure if he really blames himself, or if it's more of a survivor's guilt kind of thing because he's the one who is alive. (hide spoiler)]

Death (view spoiler)[It's interesting how he personifies death, and thinks that this woman at the hospital is death. (hide spoiler)]

the comic (view spoiler)[I'm not really sure what I think of the comic. It's a bit gory at times. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

16 chapters

the comic (view spoiler)[ I agree. it's very violent, and very....gory and...sad (hide spoiler)]

death (view spoiler)[ at first, I thought it was odd that he could see death
but now we know who she is. social worker (the irony is kind of funny but also not) i can't figure out why SHE is death. Why she would be in there when his family died....she wasn't a doctor, was she looking for him? (hide spoiler)]

why(view spoiler)[ we still don't know why he blames himself
and his life at the hospital and the things he does are confusing sometimes. he says some of the most cruel and inappropriate things at times... (hide spoiler)]

Rusty(view spoiler)[ his story of abuse and torment is so heartbreaking
I just wish stuff like this doesn't happen anymore. I hate that these bullies are winning. ugh. life is so unfair (hide spoiler)]

this is a very tough book

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

20 chapters

Drew (view spoiler)[ he's really lost it
he's crumbling. he was walking a tight rope - trying to save everyone. and it isn't working because death isn't the counselor lady....and he can't save them

I really hope he gets help (hide spoiler)]

Rusty(view spoiler)[ ugh, my heart BREAKS. I'm so sad he's done this to himself.
I'm glad "drew" was there to connect with him but these are two very broken individuals (hide spoiler)]

this book could not get more heartbreaking (view spoiler)[ lexi.... :*( (hide spoiler)]

[Gisbelle]

Trisha, (view spoiler)[yes it was very emotional indeed. It broke my heart so many times. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

OMG I'm done

what an (view spoiler)[ amazing ending
those last few comic pages, the final reveal. his name, his struggle and the hope of his future. His future warms my heart so so so much. Him and Rusty, their life together. Ugh, it's so great. so so so wonderful. :) I'm so sad for what they went through but I hope they help keep each other strong (hide spoiler)]

I love(view spoiler)[ that the hospital rallied around Rusty after he jumped. I was so worried it would end with him dying.

the line about life being a stream and he could float but he'd miss so much. beautiful too. what an amazing end (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

Wow, you sped through this book. I'm glad you loved it. I'm sure I'll love it too. I'll be reading some more tomorrow hopefully.

[Vicki]

Trisha, I'm really glad you loved it. :o)

LONG day at work! After two classes the Internet wend down and it was a fiasco. I won't go into detail but I ended up staying after school by necessity and it's 6:45 and I just got home about 30 minutes ago. I ate and now I'm going to die! LOL

Wish me luck on getting some reading done.

[Amy]

I LOVE, LOVE this book. I'm actually promoting it and hosting a blog tour the first week of March. x

[Vicki]

Finished Ch. 10

I agree with your spoilers in message 25, Katie. I also love the (view spoiler)[personification of Death. It would be a really good book to use to teach similes in particular. She uses so many and they are very unique ones! LOL Death would be a good way to teach personification as well. (hide spoiler)]

The comic book is one thing (view spoiler)[ I don't care too much for, but I'm still reading it and maybe it'll fit in better for me later. And yes, gory! (hide spoiler)]

I think Drew probably has (view spoiler)[survivor's guilt. He might have done something like been driving a car when they had a wreck, but I don't think he literally killed them. (hide spoiler)]

I really like the little (view spoiler)["party" they had in the hospital. They need to live life, too. I like how Trevor's and Lexi's and Drew's relationships are all building. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Finished Ch. 16

I still have a lot of questions about (view spoiler)[ how the wreck happened. I still think that maybe he was the driver or did something to cause it, or at least in his mind. I just don't think he'd think he "killed" them if he was simply guilty for being alive. (hide spoiler)]

Death (view spoiler)[is the most mysterious to me. It is interesting how he keeps saying he has to follow her, yet he hides from her. Perhaps Death that he is talking about isn't a physical death. Could it be an emotional death? Like if she is the social worker he might feel like if she gets him he will "die" because he'll go to a foster home or something. But he said Death (she) took his parents and his sister but was too late for him. Right? I'm still confused about exactly who/what Death is. But I'm not frustrated by the mystery. I'm curious! (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Oh, and I did have another thought because of some of the chapter titles. Is this (view spoiler)[paranormal in any sense? The first chapter is "Pyrokinesis" which is the ability to set things/people on fire via psychic concentration/powers. There is "Superhuman Intelligence" and "Death Sense" and "Enhanced Agility and Stamina" and what exactly is "Omnilingualism"? I know lingual has to do with language, and omin- meaning "all"? All languages or knowing/understanding all? Hmmm..."Omniscience" I am reading too much into it. LOL I'm trying to figure out the chapter titles. (hide spoiler)]They are driving me buggy. But I still love all the figurative language throughout so much!

[Katie]

I've finished 15 chapters now.

Death (view spoiler)[I feel like he does have a reason to be a bit afraid of her, but not because she's death. It would make sense if he were really afraid of her because she is a social worker, and she could find out about him hiding out in the hospital. (hide spoiler)]

the accident (view spoiler)[I agree that maybe he was driving or something like that. It does seem a bit more than survivor's guilt. (hide spoiler)]

Rusty (view spoiler)[The whole thing with people making a list and getting points for beating him up was awful. It's horrible to think that people can be that cruel to someone, just because that person has a different sexual orientation than them. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

I finished this yesterday and wow! It really is an amazing book.

I felt just awful when (view spoiler)[Lexi died. That was almost a shock to me. Trevor's reaction was so heartbreaking. The wig and the funeral. So sad. (hide spoiler)]

The entire story line of Rusty (view spoiler)[ couldn't be more heartbreaking. Imagine to be in so much pain that you'd set yourself on fire! Oh my gosh...I can't wrap myself around that. His story was just so heartbreaking. (hide spoiler)]

One thing I don't understand and perhaps I read right over it or I missed something. Why (view spoiler)[did Drew lie about his name? (hide spoiler)]

But yeah, the ending (view spoiler)[was very beautiful. It gave one hope. (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

I've finished 20 chapters now, and I'm really liking it. It's so powerful and emotional. I think I'll be finishing the rest today.

the accident (view spoiler)[Now I can see the reason that Drew blames himself for the accident since he was driving and read a text while driving, and that was what caused the accident. I hope he will be able to move past the guilt even though it must be difficult. (hide spoiler)]

Rusty (view spoiler)[The thing about the injuries not matching his description of the attack makes me wonder if he set himself on fire and then claimed that it was an attack. Though I don't why he would do that to himself. I guess I'll find out if that's true or not. (hide spoiler)]

Lexi (view spoiler)[I can't believe she died. I was expecting that Trevor might die, but I wasn't expecting it to be Lexi. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

Good luck!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

Katie wrote: "I've finished 20 chapters now, and I'm really liking it. It's so powerful and emotional. I think I'll be finishing the rest today...."

I agree. it's a very emotional book
for me, the last few pages are my favorite part of the book.

[Katie]

I just finished this and I really liked it.

Drew and Rusty (view spoiler)[The part at the end with the comic was great. It showed how despite everything that had happened to them, they were still able to move on and find happiness together. (hide spoiler)]

the name (view spoiler)[I think Drew lied about his name so that authorities couldn't find out that he was a minor who was illegally living in the hospital. Since he was a minor, and his parents died, he probably would've had to be in the custody of some family members. (hide spoiler)]

Rusty (view spoiler)[It's so sad that he set himself on fire. Also, when Nina said he had died, I had believed that was true, so I was really glad to find out that that wasn't the case. (hide spoiler)]

[Vicki]

I was glad that (view spoiler)[Rusty wasn't really dead too. (hide spoiler)]

Okay, I thought maybe I'd missed something regarding Drew's (view spoiler)[real name. LOL (hide spoiler)]

I'm really glad we all three liked it! YAY!!

[Trisha, lives on coffee]

the name(view spoiler)[ I also think he didn't want to be himself anymore. that person was bad, that person killed people
so he wanted to be someone new, like Patient F - so he gave himself a new name and so he found one that would be tied to someone at the hospital (hide spoiler)]