Book Review: Something In Between by Melissa De La Cruz

Something In Between by Melissa De La Cruz

Pages: 432
Publish date: September 2016
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1489211012
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

Jasmine de los Santos has always done what’s expected of her. Pretty and popular, she’s studied hard, made her Filipino immigrant parents proud, and is ready to reap the rewards in the form of a full college scholarship.

And then everything shatters. A national scholar award invitation compels her parents to reveal the truth: their visas expired years ago. Her entire family is illegal. That means no scholarships, maybe no college at all, and the very real threat of deportation. But Jasmine won’t give up. Because when the rules you lived by no longer apply, the only thing to do is make up your own.

Something in Between:

I received a review copy of Something in Between my Melissa De La Cruz in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Before Something in Between, I hadn’t read a Melissa De La Crux novel before, I am not sure why they just never seemed to catch my eye. But, the whole concept of Something in Between did. Something in Between is very important for the YA readership and something that I am interested in, that I love to read about.

Something in Between follows Jasmine de los Santos who is pretty, popular and hella smart. Jasmine has always done what was expected of her. She worked so hard that, she is offered a national scholar award that will allow her to have a full college scholarship. Unfortunately, she finds out that her family isn’t legal in the US anymore and everything shatters.

I have a like/dislike relationship with Jasmine. For most of Something in Between we totally got along. She was an easy character to get along with, and her emotions are punch-worthy at times. When Jasmine hurt, I did too. I felt her angry and disappointment in her family and I would have felt the same. When you have worked tremendously hard and then you get told, it all might be for nothing – it’s heartbreaking.

However, there were times where Jasmine sounded too young for her age or the stereotypical teenager. It was weird actually – sometimes she was acting like a young adult and then she was a teen. It was a strong contrast and was hard to get around. What I also loved about Jasmine was that Melissa De La Cruz moved away from the stereotype of the cheerleader being a bitch and dumb. It was one of the highlights from Something in Between.

I also have a love/hate relationship with Jasmine’s family. There is no doubt that they loved Jasmine. The interactions between the Jasmine and her parents was really nice to see. However, I don’t understand why her parents left them illegal for such a long time. Not even that, they kept on pushing Jasmine to do well, when they knew that she would never be able to go to college if they didn’t become legal. It was absolutely frustrating.

The friendships in Something in Between are a little lopsided. Jasmine had some very good friendships with her cheer group and other students from her school. They stood by her, helped her when she needed them and were just plain nice. Yet, there were times where her friendships were on the line. Nevertheless, it was realistic. Melissa De La Cruz is excellent at representing girls’ friendships and the way that they interaction with one another.

I enjoyed the romance side of Something in Between. There was a slight ‘love at first sight’ element to it, but it started off as a friendship and then grew into something more. Royce was a nice guy, and I couldn’t find many faults about him. However, there was something major hindering me from loving this romance – no communication. At times there was no communication between Jasmine and Royce, they didn’t talk about what was wrong and that lead to them not talking or breaking up. Which was frustrating. I want to see a book where the romances does not cause drama, where there is no breaking up. I did, however, like that the romance didn’t take over the novel.

The plot was one of the main reasons why I enjoyed Something in Between. Illegal Immigrants aren’t talked about much in books, especially YA. It was a great insight into all this in the US. It as interesting to read about and discover.

Overall, I enjoyed Something in Between. It’s a book about family, friendship and love. It’s about finding yourself and standing up for what you believe in. With a beautiful and heartbreaking concept, Something in Between takes you on a journey that is very real and very important.

Have you read Something in Between? Did you like it? Are you going to read it? Have you read anything else by Melissa De La Cruz. Let’s Chat! I have also started to make new graphics, do you like them?

Dinasoaur

· Reply

December 1, 2016 at 12:36 PM

Angel!
Oh, I didn’t know this novel was about illegal immigrants. In general, I don’t read any of de La Cruz’s novels, I am not sure why. They never appealed to me. What I did notice from your review is that the author could’ve done a better job explaining things from the parents’ perspectives. Perhaps Jasmine would somehow come full circle and understand where they are coming from in terms of thought, because I don’t think any parent wouldn’t do everything necessary to help their children achieve their goals. But, becoming a legal immigrant in the US can be very challenging due to cost and time.

angelreads
· Reply

Author

December 2, 2016 at 7:27 PM

This was my first novel, by her and while I really enjoyed it. Her other books have not caught my eye. I don’t think so either, however the way that it is explored through the book is kind of hard. They keep on pushing her to always do good and yet, she won’t be able to go to college as they cannot afford it with schlorschips which she cannot get. Yes! I totally agree with that, it’s the fact that they left it a long time. Thanks for the comment

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Lori

December 10, 2016 at 2:05 AM

I don’t think I had ever read what this book was about! But after reading your review I think it sounds really interesting! The only book I’ve read by her was Witches of East End and I really enjoyed it. Great review!