A very touching book. Made me smile, laugh and cry and not many books I read can touch me like this one did. For a YA novel, this was beautifully written and I enjoyed the plot and characters. This novel will be recommended.

This novel follows Ellie, an improv comedian, as she’s about to kiss a boy and then she discovers she has a rare cancer.

This was such a beautiful story. Ellie is so funny, and she was a delight to read about. Her wit and charm were unparalleled. I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did while reading this.

Jason was also soo lovely - I loved his relationship with Ellie. I shipped them from the very beginning. I also adored the other side characters such as Ellie’s mom and Craig!

Despite the fact that this book deals with a heavy subject matter, you never feel bogged down by the darkness. It’s tackled so beautifully, and balanced by the humour. The story is so fresh, and I loved the improv aspects of it.

Overall, this book succeeded in everything it set out to do. It brought a cute romance filled with chemistry, coupled with a lighthearted vibe to a typically-serious topic.

LOVE! I really enjoyed this! Great cast of characters, very easy to read. I don't want to imagine going through what Ellie did though... as a dancer, my legs being in working order is pretty much my highest priority! Haha. I don't think I'd cope.

I finished this e-arc that Netgalley and Entangled Teen a few days ago but I’ve fallen ill and with that comes writer’s block. I apologize in advance for anything in this review that may not make complete sense.

First off, I absolutely loved the story to this. It shows that bad things can happen but that there’s always some ounce of good happening at that same moment.

The book told Ellie’s battle with her own form of cancer in her femur and that some cannot be treated the way we usually think when the term cancer comes into play. She couldn’t do chemo because of how deep the tumor was near her knee and her doctor told her that amputation would be best. I liked that we were able to explore the more option she had when it came to a ‘miracle’ doctor.

From the author’s note, I’d assume that her own story might be similar to Ellie’s as they both had the same type of rare cancer.

This book had me pretty close to tears a few times but I’m thankful that Ellie had all of the support from her friends and family.

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This book was so sweet and beautiful and I enjoyed getting to know these characters immensely.

A Messy, Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Alan took me through a myriad of emotions. I don't think I've ever chuckled so much during a young adult cancer book, like ever.

Favorite quote: "Most people are scared of the pain in their life, they do anything they can to avoid it, to not feel what is really there. Ignoring it merely causes a different kind of hurt."

I really enjoyed Ellie's character, and I loved how different her story was from similar, emotional, books - like The Fault in our Stars or Everything, Everything. Her budding relationship with Jason kind of takes the passenger seat to her budding relationships with the cancer in her leg - but it's a beautiful tale of strength and love despite hardships. I also adored her step-brother Craig (he was probably my favorite character.... and Marshmallow Mateys are the best)! He had such a big heart and while I didn't like him much at the start of the story, he quickly became a notable character. Quinn and Hana remind me of my girlfriends, so that was fun! I also loved the improv & stand up aspects of their high school/college careers. Such a fun addition, and not anything I've read before in a young adult or adult novel.

I really enjoyed the authors writing style as well, and found myself highlighting quotes left and right. It was all from Ellie's POV in first person. It was quickly paced, well written, and extremely entertaining. I will be recommending this to any young adult readers - it's also very clean, just a few kisses and the small mention of "nookie" towards the end.

“A Messy, Beautiful Life” tossed my emotions around like a clothes dryer, wrung them, flipped them upside down, and tossed them out. It’s a book about cancer, but not at all like any of the other books you probably had pop into your mind. Everything about it feels so real. I felt their joy and their pain, and I am not ashamed to admit that I cried like a baby. Highly recommended!

I loved the opening chapter, but from then on it felt too cheerful for the subject matter. I am biased because I lost someone to cancer in the past year, but I found myself unable to get into this story and any light-heartedness it contained.

This book is about a girl who finds out she had cancer. Because of that, I think I expected the tone of the book to be a little more serious or something, but it wasn’t. So the tone of the whole book just felt a little off to me which kept me from really getting into it. I thought the characters were mostly alright, but Jason is unreal. Like, seriously unreal. He’s way too mature for how old he’s supposed to be. The plot of the book was mostly alright, but I thought the ending was too clean–too fairytale. Also, there was like this weird spiritual element to the last 1/4 of the book that wasn’t there for the first 3/4. I have nothing against that kind of thing, but it wasn’t a consistent theme throughout the whole book.

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ahhhh, I just loved this book so much. It was full of heart, romance, and even humor. It would have me laughing one minute, but then crying the next. I highly recommend this book!

Stil not sure how I feel about this book. On one end I could rate this 4/5 starts on the other, 2/5. I am very torn and will need some more time to process it. So ill just give it a 3

I picked up A Messy, Beautiful Life after I had one of those weeks that weighs on you. I wasn't in the mood for anything, but I was down about some things in my life and wanted to live in someone else's. A Messy, Beautiful Life not only made me take a look at my own life, but it made me both laugh and cry. It's a novel full of emotions, about the struggling of accepting what life hands you and seeing it as a gift, even if that gift isn't exactly what you had hoped for expected. Ellie's life has handed her cancer, a boy who's been through it before with her family, and a group of friends that can cheer anyone up.

"My whole body was light and bubbly. And his lips felt amazing, more amazing than anything I could have imagined."

Sara Jade Alan took me on a journey, one that made me laugh, made me reminisce about my youth,
made me cry (a lot), and made me so thankful for this life we've been given. She tackles the emotions of high school, of first love, and that first big challenge so perfectly. I felt like I was Ellie at times, struggling to accept the prognosis I'd been given, and at other times I felt like her friends, trying so hard to make my friend feel some sort of happiness. On top of all that is the little world that Sara Jade Alan created. A Messy, Beautiful Life takes place during Ellie's senior year of high school. She's not typical though, she's awkward with boys, very smart, and her hobby is improv. I never expected to enjoy a novel about improv, something I usually don't understand, so much. I laughed so hard envisioning a bunch of teens acting out the silly things the characters did. It felt just like high school, that time when the world seems so big and your future is ripe for the picking. It also made the story come to life, it took it from a sad novel about overcoming cancer to a story about the friends and family that help you through the hard stuff in any way they can.

"I wondered how it was possible that my life was at its very best and its very worst simultaneously."

A Messy, Beautiful Life is one of those books that I just needed to read and it was right there when I needed it to be. From the very beginning I was hooked, loving just how cute that first spark of a crush was described. Sara Jade Alan can write, the story flowed just right, and every single subplot in the novel was executed perfectly. I was so in tune with my own feelings as I read and found myself being lifted up by the spirited friends Ellie had in her childhood friends, her new friends, her crush, her mom, and even her surprisingly amazing stepbrother. A Messy, Beautiful life tackles all the bad parts of the book with so much good and really, it is quite a beautiful read. I suggest this one to readers of all ages.

4.5 stars! Oh my goodness- this book was so full of feels! Alan was absolutely masterful at bringing comedy into an automatically angsty situation. It was charming and had perfect dialog. What an amazing friend group she created for Ellie- all believable, honest characters. A must read!

Alan’s debut A Messy, Beautiful Life is the type of quirky contemporary I love to read. Ever since Glee hit the screens , I have love reading stories that tell stories of clubs/ teams are different. Not the stereotypical groups/ team we always find in contemporaries and the improvisation comedy team fit the bill . Yet that isn’t why I kept reading this book, devouring it. It was the life lessons that you took away from this book. The moments that you could relate and understood , the heart warming and the heartbreaking

This book had everything and had me caught up in the moment wondering what would happen to Ellie as the story unfolded. As it was heavy and deep, examining life, and how in one moment , life can turn upside down. In the last way you expect after the typical cliche. The first kiss, with the person you have been crushing on is a moment you don’t forget. However for Ellie whose life has given plenty of highs and lows. This might be the most defining point for Ellie as the aftermath isn’t pretty. Taking a tumble is something that would mortify any teenager but Ellie maybe the best the thing that happened to her

As her life becomes messy and beautiful like the title suggestions . Ellie’s story unfolds like the blurb describes as her life changes with the c word. Cancer. It could have been doom and gloom and become a really sappy book . But Alan’s prose doesn’t make it to be. She challenges things and shows that life doesn’t have to stop . That you can be in control of your own messy beautiful life. That life may give you lemons but you can make lemonade out of it. This what I loved about this book. Ellie’s sense of humour and the characters that surround her. They showed the true meaning of friendship and more. They cared for each other , they laugh and did life together. It might have been Ellie’s story but it soon become others and a talking point for a number of issues. I liked how Alan mashed the two big things of this book together and made it worked together beautiful as Ellie really shown through as a result. Her strength showed to us readers and showed it was okay to make fun of moments. It was okay to laugh about the tough things about life. It was okay to still have the dreams and wishes like any other teenager. Life didn’t become hard, it just become more messy and beautiful.



Alan’s debut maybe fictional but I loved how she put her own passions and story into this novel. The cover is perfect for this novel and I do hope people pick up this story as it one that speaks volume as it isn’t too far from reality. With plenty of YA releases hitting the shelves this month and being spoilt for choice. This one of my picks for this month and there is a good reason why. It left me addicted and wanting more about these characters.

4.5 couples

I was excited when I got this book. First, look at this cover; gorgeous. But after the insta-love and mooning over a guy she just met, I couldn't get in to Ellie's story. I wanted more depth and the first few chapters didn't give me that.

Who would have thought that a book about a girl with Cancer would be funny? Not me. When I read the description of the book I was intrigued and new I wanted to read this. I needed to know what happened to Ellie and the guy that she wants to be “just friends” with.

Ellie is a part of her improv group at school, and on a night they are invited to participate in a show at another school where she meets Jason, a member of the other school’s improv team. After the show Ellie and her friends are invited to a party at Jason’s house and the invite is reiterated when Ellie runs into Jason at the beach. It’s during this party that Ellie has an accident that lands her in the hospital where she finds out she has a rare form of cancer in her leg. The events that follow her diagnosis lead us through a great story of love, family and friendship and how people are drawn together in a crisis.

One of the things I liked most about this story was the relationships that Ellie had, with not only Jason, but with her friends and her step-brother. Even when Ellie tried to push them away they stayed and fought right beside her. They refused to let her go through any of it on her own, especially Jason.

All in all this was a great read, funny when it needed to be, and serious when it was supposed to be.

**4.5 Stars**
Ellie is ready to enjoy her senior year of high school, perform in her improve comedy group and maybe talk to the cute boy, Jason, she just met (if she can cure herself of saying awkward comments to him!). But it seems like life has other plans for her when she ends up falling and passing out at a party while talking to said cute boy. Ellie is now facing a struggle for her life, the only things keeping her together is her sense of humor and her close friends and family. How can she even think of having a boyfriend when her life is up in the air.

I love cancer books, I seriously grew up on Lurlene McDaniel's stories, where all the main characters have an illness that may result in death (hence my family referencing them as "my death books"). No, I am not morbid, but something about the life and death struggle really speaks to me and it is just so life affirming, emotional and surprisingly uplifting. When I found this book and read the synopsis, I knew I needed to read this story, and it didn't hurt that the cover was so pretty! Ugh, the feels that this story brought to me! The story tugged on my heartstrings, making me so confused as to if I wanted to cry or laugh. This was such a well balanced read to not overwhelm the reader with sorrow but at the same time bring forth the seriousness of Ellie's struggle. I want a copy of this book to own so I can hug it to my chest and re-read my favorite parts when I miss it.

​I love how humor was used in the story, be it something big and in your face such as the hilarity of the Spanish music video they discovered or the subtle little comments (Ellie's mental-and verbal- tangents were the best!) I found so endearing.
​For example:
"...he had a particularly charming way of holding scissors. A charming way of holding scissors? Maybe there was a brain tumor in my brain."
"Mom returned and we were released with a bag of drugs, two crutches, one swollen leg (and a partridge in a pear tree)."
"'It wouldn't be wrong. He's not my brother. I mean, it would be wrong, but not because of bloodlines. What I mean is, it would be spiritually, chemically, emotionally, physically wrong. Anyway. We better find our parents- one of his and one of mine. He's my stepbrother.' With that Toast-Masters-worthy speech I wriggled out of his bear clasp and turned around."
"It was so absurd that I couldn't stop my first thought from popping out of my mouth. 'Really? That's so weird- I love sugar. Cancer and I must have a lot in common.'"
"It was a disco disaster. But the shimmies, the glitter, the commitment! There's a saying in improv: if you're going to fail, fail big."
Seriously, there were so many parts I wanted to share in my review, it took forever for me to pick just a few to include. So the take home message here is that I wanted to share the whole book which really means that I just need everyone to experience this story as well.

This was a very character driven story which I am always up for and the cast of characters here were so fun and quirky. Of course we have Ellie, our brave heroine who is trying to figure out how to keep going on and to do the right thing while her world is crashing around her. Besides Ellie, I think my favorite character was Craig- the unwanted step-brother who became like her real brother. When he hugged her at the hospital when she was first admitted and just let her sob on him was the moment I knew I loved Craig. Her two friends Quinn and Hana, as well as her mom, were the best support system imaginable. And then there is strong, reliable and sweet Jason with comments like "Plus, Mom told me to always follow my heart. To follow love". If that is not swoon worthy, I am not sure what is.

This was such a feel good story with lots of heart and a much needed romance. I would love to read more from this author because she has a may of creating people that I feel like know and connect to. Pick this book up if you want to laugh and possibly cry but overall be swept up in the journey Ellie takes.

I received this title for reviewing purposes. Visit https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ to participate in the blog tour!

5 Stars - SO ACHINGLY BEAUTIFUL

This book is INCREDIBLY AMAZING. How can something so upsetting and heartbreaking be so full of life and laughter?! Dealing with cancer will never be easy. I knew going into this book that I would get very emotional. I was so ready to bawl my eyes out, but instead of crying till my eyes swelled up, I actually laughed… A LOT. I mean there were plenty of tears involved, but A Messy, Beautiful Life filled my heart with so much hope and joy. By the end, I just wanted to give everyone I love a big hug and never let go.

It’s actually been a few days since I finished reading this book and I still haven’t stopped thinking about everything that’s happened. I LOVEEEE this book so much…SO MUCH that I know this will be one of my top ten favorite reads in 2017. The cover is ridiculously gorgeous. The title is utterly perfect. The writing is exceptional and the story… it’s so so BEAUTIFUL and I just can’t get over all the FEELS.

I absolutely love Ellie and Jason. Ellie is a fantastic character. She’s loving and caring. She’s extremely talented, hilarious and witty. She’s also very strong, inspiring and so full of life that I wanted to be around her. I just love that girl so much and rooted for her the entire time. Jason… this guy will always have a special place in my heart. He’s charming and sweet. He’s the perfect gentleman and I fell so hard for him. Watching these two interact together is really fun! Their chemistry is simply amazing. I love all the cute flirting, playful bantering, sexy kisses, and tender moments between them. Their romance is just so adorable, and swoony and will make your heart so full of happy.

The other characters are wonderful and I adore them to pieces. Ellie’s stepbrother, Craig, is very thoughtful, caring, and awesome. He makes me heart melt into a puddle of goo and I just love him. Ellie’s mom is just the BEST and I want to hug her! The mother-daughter dynamic/bond is definitely goals. Hana and Quinn are totally kick ass and the most amazing best friends ever. The relationships between the characters are just so great! I don’t want to give too much away, but there is seriously so much love in this book. Not to mention the characters are well-developed, genuine, and believable.

A Messy, Beautiful Life by Sara Jade Alan is a lovely story about learning to find humor in life despite dealing with something really terrible. It’s riveting, deeply affecting, and very inspiring. While some parts are heartbreaking and just really sad, this book is also filled with so many fun, hilarious, and heartwarming moments that will make you smile and laugh out loud. Everything about this book is just so achingly beautiful. I honestly love this story with all my heart and can’t recommend it enough. Alan’s writing is phenomenal and I truly cannot wait to read whatever she writes next!

P.S. - Ranma ½ is the BEST and one of my favorites! I used to watch that anime with my brother when we were young. Definitely got nostalgic and made me miss those days.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ellie and her friends are involved in a improv group at their school. One night while they were performing she meets Jason and they instantly have a connection. After their improv performance Jason and his friends invite Ellie and her friends to a party the next night. While at the party Ellie and Jason hit it off and are about to kiss when she slips and falls off the deck. She is immediately rushed to the hospital, shes finds out she didn't break her leg but finds out she has a tumor in her femur. She later finds out she was a rare type of bone cancer.

Wow, this book was soo touching and beautiful! I laughed and cried through this book and it takes a lot for me to tear up and cry in a book. Ellie is a strong girl, when she found out she had cancer she took a day and cried it out and moved on from it and excepted it. I think the best part of her journey through it all was her support system, her mom and friends were everything! Her dad later on jumped on board, but it took him awhile to understand that Ellie needed him.

Ellie and Jason's relationship was perfect, the right about a romance and the perfect amount of love. There relationship was beautiful, Jason went through the same thing with his mom and he knew exactly how to support Ellie. He was there from day one and never wanted to leave her side.

What made me cry even more was when I read the author notes at the end and read that the author also had the same kind of cancer. I think it was beautiful that she took what she had and wrote it out on paper into a very touching story.

I received a book from Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours in exchange for an honest review.