ARC Review and Excerpt: Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards + Giveaway
Six Months Later
Natalie Richards
336 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Summary via Goodeads
Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her.
What happened to her?
And why can't she remember?
-REVIEW-
Six Months Later by Natalie Richards is a thrilling and suspense book that pulls you right into Chloe's world, and into a mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.
When Chloe falls asleep in Study Hall, she wakes up six months later to a suddenly perfect life. But why does everything feel so wrong? And why can't she remember any of it?
Imagine falling asleep and waking up to find out that everything about your life has changed. The boy you crushed on is suddenly your boyfriend, and the grades that you've always struggled with in school are suddenly a no problem, your test scores amazing. Now imagine losing your best friend, and parents who are on the constant watch out for signs up depression and behavioral issues. Chloe fights to try to understand just what has happened to her, why she can't seem to remember the last six months, and how did so much change.
The author Natalie Richards does an amazing job with keeping the suspense high and great characterization. I could feel the near panic and terrible confusion Chloe was going through as she tries to solve the mystery. Six Months Later is a fast and intense read for this very reason, your not only kept guessing, but through Choel's great characterization, you'll feel every emotion she does!
The Romance is tricky in Six Months Later. What happens when your dream guy is not what you expected, and the guy you thought strange suddenly starts to make your heart flutter. Chloe has had a crush on Blake, the smart and popular high-school lacrosse-player, but for some reason, now that he's her boyfriend, everything feels wrong about him. Chloe knows he's the kind of guy that any girl would dream of calling her boyfriend. Only Chloe doesn't, in fact everything about their relationship seems strange. All the feelings Chloe thought she would experience with Blake as her boyfriend are the feelings she gets when she's around Adam, the mysterious boy from school. The same smart and rebellious boy who seems to know and care for Chloe much more than she can remember. The same boy who suddenly makes her heart flutter, only she can't remember why!
I really enjoyed Natalie Richard's debut book Six Months Later. The suspense, mystery, and great characters made this book a real page turner. Six Months Later is perfect for those readers looking for a great mystery and romance.
My Rating: 4 stars. I really liked it!
Six Months Later
--Excerpt--
“You alright, Chlo?” Adam asks.
My nickname sounds right on his lips. Natural. He shouldn’t even know I have a nickname, let alone feel right using it. But he obviously does.
“You look scared to death,” he adds, frowning down at me.
I’m not sure scared is the right word. I’m not sure there is a right word for all the things I’m feeling.
“I’m fine. Just tired,” I lie.
He walks right up to me and I swear to God, I can’t remember how to breathe. My heart is pounding and my fingers are shaking, but somehow the world feels steady anyway. I’m not afraid. I should be, but I’m just not.
“Do you need to talk? Is that why you called?” he asks. “You know you can talk to me.”
“I know that,” I say automatically, the words coming from a place I can’t find, a great empty space in me where I’m sure a memory should be.
I feel inexplicably sad at this yawning hole, this absence.
What’s happening to me? What happened to make me forget?
I bite my lip and feel my eyes burn with the threat of tears. Adam’s expression softens, twisting into something pained. Not once have I dreamed him possible of this kind of look. Or anything in the same zip code as this look, really.
He opens his opens his mouth to say something, and my whole body goes tense, my belly a knot of fluttering things. What is going on with me?
He reaches across the desk between us, almost, but not quite touching my fingers. Every centimeter between our hands feels charged. Electric.
“We can’t keep doing this, Chloe,” he says softly.
The words sting and I don’t know why. I don’t even know what he means, but I desperately want to argue with him. I want to shake my head and grab his hands and—this is crazy.
Way beyond crazy.
My whole world is sliding into a flat spin. I can’t have this guy, this total freaking stranger, at the center of it.
If I don’t get away from him, I’m going to do something stupid. Something I won’t be able to come back from.
About Natalie:
At seven, Natalie D. Richards wrote about Barbara Frances Bizzlefishes (who wouldn't dare do the dishes.) Now she writes about awesome girls, broody boys, and all things dark and creepy. Natalie lives in Ohio (Go Bucks!) with her techno-wiz husband, three amazing kids, and a seventy pound dust-mop who swears he's the family dog. Her psychological thriller, Six Months Later, will be released in October 1, 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire. Until then, you'll probably find her writing her next book or trying to wade through the towers of dog-eared paperbacks that have taken over her bedroom.
