Far from the Tree

I don’t usually cry watching sappy shows or reading sweet books. It’s just not something I do. I think the last time I cried while reading was maybe sophomore year in high school and Sirius had just died? Yeah, it’s been awhile. Enter “Far From the Tree”. This book had me, well, not BAWLING because I’m still mostly heartless apparently, but I was tearing up in several places. This book… oh my goodness, so good! So many feels! 90% of it is not traditionally “happy” but that’s what I loved about it; it’s heavy and beautiful. “Far From the Tree” follows the story of three siblings who are separated when their bio-mom puts them up for adoption/loses them to foster care as babies. These kids’ lives are real and raw and tragic, but also inspiring and you just ache for them and want the best for them. They each are going through so much and when they learn that they have siblings, instead of it destroying them further, it turns into this beautiful relationship. The kind of relationship and support system each child needs at that precise moment in their lives.While this book is classified as a YA contemporary, the topics are pretty heavy and deal with things like teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, and depression. I think it’s an important read, but probably better suited to a more mature reader as this isn’t a fluffy YA at all (which, again, is totally my jam but not for everyone). There is some swearing but it was also realistic to older teenagers. Seriously, spend some time on a high school campus and I’m sure you’ll lose count of the various F bombs they drop, and this book is nowhere near that level. Also, in case you are worried about the type of adoption story this is: I can assure you it isn’t one of those that paints adoptive parents as lesser in any way then bio-parents. The message I got was: giving up babies is a trauma, even if it’s done for all the right reasons. It’s hard and heart breaking, but the parents who adopt these kids are wonderful and give their children the world and more in love and support. I think the author handles these topics wonderfully and with great care and respect to both those who adopt, and the bio-parents who choose to give up their children.That being said, out of the three main characters, I felt the most for Grace. All her chapters kicked me right in the gut. She felt the most tangible and tortured to me, followed closely by Joaquin. Those two had me tearing up multiple times. Which is odd only because Maya’s situation is the closest to my own in terms of a child being adopted into a home when the couple has a biological baby. But I did love Maya’s sarcastic wit and she was often a good foil to the more serious chapters with Joaquin—who struggles with wanting to feel like things are going right for him, but he’s been hurt so much that he can’t trust anyone to get close to him—and Grace—who wrestles with giving up her child and struggling to figure out her new normal while battling her grief and guilt over not being there for her baby in a similar fashion to her bio-mom. Honestly, if it weren’t for the humor introduced by Maya (who is a lesbian with a great girlfriend!) and Grace’s friend Rafe, this book would be a little hard to get through because the topics and feelings Benway evokes are just that powerful. But even if that levity hadn’t been there, I’d still love this book. The stories and characters, and the situations they deal with, are that important.Honestly there was only one thing I found frustrating about the book, and that was how the characters wouldn’t just talk to each other. Which is a very teenager thing to do so it adds to the realism, but at the same time when you as the reader know they could help each other out so much by just saying the thing they are hiding… yeah, got a little frustrating. Still, I loved these kids. I hurt alongside them, I loved the messages they had for their parents, friends, and each other. They address their issues in a healthy way (for the most part), encouraging therapy and support groups to get the help they each needed. I loved their struggles and wanted them to have a happy ending because they deserved it so, so much. I LOVED this book. Period. I give it all the stars! All of them! Or, you know, just 5 because that’s all Amazon and Goodreads allows… Anyway, READ THIS BOOK!

Far from the Tree grabbed me on page one and held onto me until the very end. A very human story and now that I've finished it, I really miss the characters. Too bad there isn't A sequel because I would have started it immediately after I finished this onr.

***REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED ON WHAT A NERD GIRL SAYS***There are so many words to describe Robin’s brand new novel, which comes out tomorrow, but the first one that comes to mind is beautiful. This book is just beautiful.First off, let’s talk about family. This book is first and foremost about family, how it can come from many different places. Two girls are adopted and one is in a foster family that loves him. The three of them find each other find each other and become a family. But there’s also the family they go searching for and the friends they surrounded themselves with. Robin writes family so beautiful, especially that bond between siblings, whether its the relationship between the biological siblings of Grace, Maya and Joaquin or the relationship between Maya and her sister, Lauren. I have five younger siblings and we are all incredibly closed and I felt such a connection with the story of family in this novel.Second, I loved the discovery of self identity, especially for Maya and Joaquin. Maya is lesbian, has a girlfriend, and is sure of herself in that and I love that so much. It’s not a big deal at all and that’s amazing. I love that there’s that diversity in there and its written as if its not a big deal, because, hello, its totally not. But I also love Joaquin wanting to know more about himself, more about where he came from, what his culture is like. He wants to be Mark and Linda’s son but he doesn’t want to lose who he is at heart. I admire that so much.Third, Grace. Oh, Grace. I bonded with her story more than anything. I know what its like to be pregnant in high school, to feel rejected, to feel unsure of your decision, to feel like you’ve let people down, to feel like you’ve been abandoned. I didn’t have my baby; I unfortunately had a miscarriage. There’s a part early in the book where she is overwhelmed by the loss of her baby; she feels it in her body. It feels empty, like there’s something missing and she physically feels it and I cannot even begin to describe how close I felt to that. That was over a decade ago for me but all those feelings came rushing back at me.Overall, Robin has written an incredible novel here. I’ve always adored her and I remember reading Emmy and Oliver and thinking it was her best yet but this book blows it out of the water. She gets better and better with each book and this one definitely shows that. The story is great, and the emotions are real, and the fact that it centers on family and does such a great job at it is what makes this book a must read. It comes out tomorrow and I 100% urge everyone to get this book. I’m positive it’s my favorite of the year so far.

This was a beautiful, heartbreaking, yet hopeful book. This book contained so much love and friendship and was just wonderful to read.

This is a story of three adopted siblings who meet when they are teenagers where they exactly need each other. The story starts with Grace, a 16 year old girl giving up her child for adoption. She is depressed now. Being an adopted child herself she started thinking about her biological parents which led her to her siblings.- I loved how the author highlighted all three of them equally with unique story of their own.✨The elder one, Joaquin who is still under foster care and hasn't been adopted because of his anger issues. He is such a nice boy and I want everything nice happen to him because he deserves all the love in the world.✨The middle child, Grace is the link who connects all of them together. She is a teenage mom who is trying to accept herself and find peace within. We need more characters like her in books.💖✨And the younger one, Maya is sarcastic but also has super attitude. She's a girlfriend.Even though the romance contribution to the story is minimum, I liked the pairs(Maya & Claire, Joaquin & Birdie).- I loved how their relationship developed over time, how supportive they were of each other and when the book ended, it was so perfect and I was really happy for all three of them.Far from the tree is an emotional, heart warming story which will leave the readers happy but also makes them cry. I would rate this book with not just 5 stars but with all the stars in the sky if I could. It's become my all time favorite contemporaries. Highly recommend!

Book came quickly and was in perfect condition.The book itself was absolutely amazing, and I recommend to anyone who reads YA.

Eu já estava interessada em comprar esse livro, mas depois que ganhou o National Book Award eu não pude resistir.A história tem ritmo e lhe faz emocionar ao mostrar que não na vida real não há grandes vilões.

Wow.