Release Day Review: Above all Else by Dana Alison Levy

CharlesbridgeTEEN
ISBN: 9781623541408
October 13 2020

In a novel as riveting, irresistible, and heartbreaking as Into Thin Air, teen climbing prodigies Rose and Tate attempt to summit--and survive--Mount Everest.

Rose Keller and Tate Russo have been climbing for years, training in harsh weather and traveling all over the world. The goal that kept them going? Summiting Mount Everest, the highest point on earth. Accompanied by Tate's dad, the two will finally make the ultimate climb at the end of their senior year. But neither Rose nor Tate are fully in the game--not only is there a simmering romance between them, but Rose can't get her mind off her mother's illness, while Tate constantly fails to live up to his ambitious father's standards.

Everyone on their expedition has something to prove, it seems. And not everyone is making the best decisions while short on oxygen and exhausted, body and mind. The farther up the mountain they go, the more their climbing plans unravel and the more isolated each team member becomes. Rose and Tate will have to dig deep within themselves to determine what--or who--they value above all else. 

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Kobo

Add to Goodreads

What I thought about Above All Else

Best friends Rose and Tate have been focused on mountain climbing their whole lives and their plans to climb Everest in their senior year of high school are moving full-steam ahead.  Even though Rose's mother, one of the climbing mentors is ill, they arrive in Nepal with many things on their minds and in their hearts even before tackling the mountain.

I love action and adventure stories which is what interested me when I read the blurb for this book. The aspect of challenging your own self to something like this is a grand goal for many, and I thought this story did a very nice job of illustrating the individual mental and physical challenges each of the climbers in the group have to face throughout the story.

I loved Tate and his dilemma and cheered when he made his very difficult decision. The budding romantic relationship between him and Rose was lovely and his struggles with his father while typical, had a satisfying conclusion. Rose was a little harder to warm up to, but I had to admire her drive and how her experiences on the mountain forever changed her life.

I really liked this story alot. I'm always looking for books to read with my young adult, and this is definitely a great title to read with your fellow readers. There's plenty to discuss and I really liked that about it, but I also felt that the first half of the book was slow paced and had me skimming these opening pages. The story really takes off nicely at about the halfway point and I didn't put the book down until I got to the ending. Enjoyed this one.

An ARC was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review.

Dana Alison Levy was raised by pirates but escaped at a young age and went on to earn a degree in aeronautics and puppetry. Actually, that’s not true—she just likes to make things up. That’s why she always wanted to write books. She was born and raised in New England and studied English literature before going to graduate school for business. While there is value in all learning, had she known she would end up writing for a living, she might not have struggled through all those statistics and finance classes. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher is her first published novel, but she has a trunk full of other attempts, which vary in degrees of awfulness.

Her first book for young adults, Above All Else, comes out in October 2020. In addition to The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, she has also written The Family Fletcher Takes Rock Island, This Would Make a Good Story, and It Wasn't me. All her books have garnered starred reviews, multiple Best Of lists and state reading lists, and are Junior Library Guild selections. Also her kids like them.

 Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram