Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher is an incredible debut! It was a heartfelt story about friendship, loss and the power of books. Amelia meets Jenna at a bookstore, and their love for a book series of a mystical world called Orman brings them together. Amelia is from a broken family but Jenna's well-to-do family provides her with several opportunities she wouldn't have otherwise. For Jenna's birthday, the girls take a trip to a book expo with VIP access to the reclusive and young author of the Orman Chronicles, N.E. Endsley. Just before Amelia is to meet Endsley, he abruptly cancels his speaking engagement and leaves, but not before he met Jenna. Jenna leaves the following week to travel to Europe and Amelia is devastated to learn her best friend won't be coming back after being involved in a deadly car accident.

Amelia is dealing with grief and pressure from Jenna's family to follow their shared plan when a mysterious package arrives with a rare, signed copy of N.E. Endsley's new book. Amelia feels it is a sign from Jenna and decides to take a road trip to uncover the mystery. What ensues is a genuine look at grief, anxiety, love and hope from a young adult perspective.

I loved the separate and entangled stories of each of the characters and the meta-fictive aspects of the world of Orman in their lives. Beautiful and complex.

Look for this debut on 2.16.21!

If you are looking for a Young Adult contemporary romance featuring a book lover and an author with an instant hate-to-love relationship, this book is the perfect fit for you.

Amelia is a recent high school graduate who's decided that she is going to follow her best friend Jenna's master plan on what college they'll attend and what they'll study. She thinks she has it all figured out, but upon getting into an argument with Jenna that isn't resolved before Jenna's unexpected death, she starts to wonder if the path she's on is really the one for her.

This book starts out at a book festival, and for some of us, we can only dream of being at an in-person book festival again. Amelia and Jenna are waiting for an event with Amelia's favorite author, N. E. Endsley, to begin so that she can finally meet him and have her book signed. Taking a quick bathroom break, Amelia returns to find out from her best friend and the festival announcer that Endsley's event has been canceled. It isn't until their drive home that Amelia finds out Jenna was the reason behind it.

To start, I love drama between friends in books. Perfect relationships don't exist, and they won't be believable, in my opinion, if there isn't a little bit of trouble between the characters. That said, I unexpectedly didn't like the drama the author created between Amelia and Jenna. It was like reading a badly scripted scene, but I was actually able to hear it in my head and also imagine it. I was a little put off when Amelia got seriously upset with Jenna for consoling someone with obvious mental health problems. She made it seem like, even though Endsley wasn't mentally fit to be at the festival, it didn't matter because she was more important and should've been able to meet him. It made me type "Life isn't all about you, Amelia!" in my notes.

Moving forward, I was very excited when Amelia decided to take an unplanned trip to Michigan to figure out where a mysterious book--that had been shipped to her at her town's bookstore--came from. Upon arriving in Michigan at the bookstore that the package had stated the book was from, no one gives her the answers she's looking for. Amelia finds instead an adorable and inviting bookshop with a snappy (in a good way) owner and her skeptical son, along with a bit overbearing dog named Wally.

I liked this section a lot. I think the "mystery" of the bookshop, the unusual 101st copy of Amelia's favorite book, and the sudden appearance of N. E. Endsley in this small Michigan town. I was really ensnared into the book at this point, and though Amelia did grind my gears at some points, I thought that Schumacher really did a great job in writing this section.

Unfortunately, past this point is when I felt that things started to go downhill again. The pacing began at a decent pace, but then it started to get slower, and slower, and slower. I'm not the biggest fan, personally, of slower-paced books and began to get bored from it. Along with this, Amelia's character became pretty annoying. At multiple points in time, I felt she was just hanging around Endsley because she wanted to know more about his books in general, as well as her 101st copy. Along with this, she called him "troubled" when referring to his mental crisis back at the book festival. As someone who has mental disorders and lives with them every day, I hate that. It makes me feel like nothing more than someone who needs to be watched 24/7, almost like a dog. And with this, Amelia never once felt regret over how she placed the guilt for Endsley's mental health disallowing her from originally meeting him on Jenna before her death.

Surprisingly enough, once I got to the ending of the book, I actually felt that the book got much better. Amelia became less insufferable, the romance aspect of the book didn't feel as forced as it had in the middle of the story, a bit of humor was actually picked up, and the pacing instantly picked up. I was a little disappointed with the epilogue just being a summary of things that happen after their teen years, but overall, it wasn't horrible. For that, I gave this book 3 stars.

This story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. With such strong messages about friendships, family, grief and being true to your own self it's such a perfect read for young adults.
I fell In love with this book!
This story was beautiful. It took me through such a wave of emotions. The story was rich and the characters loveable.

4.5 Stars. I cannot stop thinking about this book and Orman. This was such a gut wrenching story, but also so heartwarming and hopeful. The author really has such a beautiful way with words that so many times took my breath away. I didn't know what to expect when I started this, but it just snuck up on me and I could not put it down after the first few chapters. I loved Amelia's story and how everything unfolded for her. And Nolan, my heart. Every character in this book just fit perfectly. I loved it. Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

This is a beautiful YA novel that reminded me why I love to read books so very much and the power of stories. This is a story of loss and grief, surrounded by stories and filled with words and sentences that are the same words and sentences I think about when I think of the power of books. In thr pages exists the best kinds of friendship, romance, a quirky cast of characters and a bookstore I want to visit. This is a story full of heartbreak and hope and one that I will revisit. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amelia Unabridged was a sweet, heartwarming book! Eighteen-year-old Amelia is obsessed with the Orman Chronicles books and is excited at the opportunity to attend a book festival with her best friend Jenna and meet the reclusive author. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong. Jenna meets the author, but Amelia doesn’t and the two have a huge fight. And before they can mend their relationship, Jenna goes overseas and is killed in a car accident. Suddenly, Amelia’s life is flipped upside down and she questions everything she had planned for the future.

This was such a sweet, heartwarming book about grief, friendship, love and second chances. I cannot believe this is Ashley Schumacher’s first book. It’s so well written. The characters are well developed and I found myself flying through the story.

This book gets bonus points for book loving characters and an amazing bookstore setting that I’d love to visit.

Four lovely stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary digital ARC. Amelia Unabridged is available everywhere on February 16, 2021.

Life doesn’t always go the way you planned it. This book destroyed me but it also reminded me about my love of reading. Two friends bonded by one book. When one of those friends has to leave, the other takes to journey on a path like she didn’t know she was fated to take. This was a love letter to friendship, two books, to the imagination. I really can’t see more because I don’t want to spoil it but it was amazing and I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book from Wednesday Books and Netgalley.

I adored this beautiful, heartbreaking book about friendship and loss.
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I'm still a little teary-eyed if we're being honest.

Amelia's world is falling apart, her dad just left to be with his pregnant girlfriend (who's barely older than Amelia) and her mom checks out, spending all her time watching TV. In an aimless stupor, Amelia wanders downtown one day and stops outside a bookstore window. After she's been staring awhile, Jenna, a classmate Amelia barely knows. sticks her head out the bookstore door and invites Amelia inside. Eventually, the two become best friends and Amelia is unofficially adopted into Jenna's family. Fast forward 4 years and the girls have just graduated from high school and take a trip to a huge book convention to meet the author or their favorite series, the series that got Amelia through her roughest times. Through a freak twist of fate, Jenna meets the famous author but Amelia doesn't, which puts a huge strain on their relationship. A few weeks later Jenna is killed in a car accident and her parents and Amelia are left adrift, drowning in grief.

When Amelia unexpectedly receives a leather-bound, first edition, signed copy of the first book in the series that brought them together, she assumes it's Jenna reaching out from the beyond to help her. When she calls the bookshop in Michigan that sent her the book, the employee who answers gives vague deflections. Amelia decides to go to Michigan and find whatever answers Jenna is trying to send her. What ensues is a heartfelt, genuine look at grief, families, love and loss.

I enjoyed every minute of it. The characters (even peripheral ones) were fleshed out and real, the bookshop in Michigan just quirky enough, and the dog brought levity to the story. This one is highly recommended and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Omg I loved this book so much. It was real, and gut wrenching and beautiful. A debate that should not be missed!!

Amelia Unabridged is PERFECT YA. I mean it. This book is FLAWLESS. Literally every single part of this story hit it out of the park for me. I'm pretty thrifty with my own pennies so I don't normally tell people they should buy a book, but this is an instance where I'm gonna call it - if you love YA, go ahead and click pre-order for this one.

Y'all probably know how much I loved Words in Deep Blue. I'm going to be honest...I loved this one even more. The friendship between Amelia and Jenna is one of the best things I've read in a long, long time. And the way in which the author writes about the exhausting and terrifying pressure of living up to someone else's expectations really hit home with me. I wish I would have read this book when I was 17.

Amelia Unabridged is written with an authenticity that is painfully disarming, yet the hope that is weaved through every chapter is that intangible sweetness that makes the YA genre so special. This book is beautifully written and is a promise of all the good that life can hold, even in the midst of tragedy and pain. It's a love letter to stories. It's an exploration of trauma. It's balanced and good and deep and sad and uplifting.

I will absolutely be buying this one when it comes out in February, and it is going on my favorites list! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+❤

This story was beautiful. It took me through such a wave of emotions. The story was rich and the characters loveable.

Ameila Unabridged is a beautifully written book about life, grief, found family, fate, and those magical moments in between moments that only a camera can capture. It's bout finding your own path, and the people who save you along the way.

This book is not about grief. This is about what comes after the grief. This book is about being at the cross road of your life and realizing you get to make your own choices and live your own life. This is beautifully written with enough magic to keep the reader believing and enough heart to fall in love too. Well done, truly enjoyed.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Amelia Unabridged. I certainly didn't hate it, but it was missing a certain oomph for me. I guess ultimately I found the premise itself a little too farfetched. It's wish fulfillment in the vein of self-insert fanfiction--which is fine for the right reader, but not for me. It didn't help that I found Amelia occasionally very annoying. I really didn't believe that she would be able to chill out enough to be in a fulfilling relationship with her favorite author, especially not in the short time in which the story takes place. Perhaps me reading this as an adult was the issue but I have read a lot of YA that I love--this wasn't it.

4 Stars

I really liked this book. It kind of slowed down in the middle but picked back up in the end. The prose was beautiful and made jealous that I don't see the world like that. It definitely reminds me of how I felt reading some of my 1st books. I would absolutely love for an "Alex Unabridged" to follow but I won't hold my breath.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of this book.

Oh. Wow. This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The atmosphere throughout the whole book was reminiscent of a cozy rainy day in the fall, where it’s cloudy but there’s still a bit of sun peeking out. A day when you’re curled up and daydreaming and reminiscing, and while it’s bittersweet, you’re also present and content. I really don’t know how to describe the feeling eloquently, but reading this book was just an incredible experience.

I adored all the major characters in this book. They all had their lovely qualities and their flaws, and my heart ached for each of them. I found that Val’s Bookstore and the books themselves (Orman Chronicles, etc.) were also characters in the story. I’m now on a mission to read more books featuring books as characters.

Look, I don’t read much hetero romance. I’m queer, and so are most of the books on my shelves. But that being said, the romance in this book has gotta be one of my favorites date. Oh my god. The things these two say to each other...the forces that bring them together...it’s so soft and achingly beautiful I might just explode. I’m surprised that, even though the main events of the story happen over about a week, I didn’t find it to be too rushed. In fact, I wouldn’t even say it reads like insta-love at all.

If I had one complaint (and it’s really is our just one), Chapter 3 felt awkward to me. I felt like a lot of the emotions were just glossed over. It would’ve hurt, but I would’ve liked to have seen more depth in this chapter.

Overall, this was amazing. I am blown away and I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thank you Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the free eARC!!
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Amelia is grieving the death of her best friend, Jenna, when a surprise package arrives for her. Inside is a special edition copy of Orman Chronicles, Amelia’s favorite book that also originally brought the two friends together. In seeking out where the mysterious gift came from, Amelia stumbles upon so much more.
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Amelia Unabridged is heartbreaking and heart-mending. It’s beautifully written; I don’t remember the last time I highlighted so many passages in a book! It speaks to the power of books, the importance of friendship/chosen families, and the rush of first love. It’s rooted in reality and loss, but also has a certain fantastical feel as well. I had a couple minor critiques until I slowed down and put myself in the place of these characters - their ages, their life experiences, etc. and remembered that 18 year old me was very different than present day me.
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I highly recommend this for those that love books about books, Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley, and Julie Buxbaum’s books.

This book offers a bit of everything for bibliophiles! A little bit of romance, intrigue, adventure, and LOADS of bookish references. I was not fully anticipating a romance going into the story, but WOW I am so glad it exists! It was so swoon worthy and I loved how the pairing met. This was amazing.

i really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I really enjoyed going on this journey. I look forward to more from the author.