Young Joon’s parents died. Homelessness is her only option.Joon had a good life with her parents–she was loved and cared for the way all eight-year-olds should be. Then, one horrible day, her parents died, and she was put into the foster care system.When Joon is placed with a single mother, Aron, and her two sons, nothing could have prepared her for the cruelty and brutality she would be … brutality she would be subjected to over the next four years. When things escalate and her foster brother Deen threatens her, Joon takes to the streets to escape the viciousness of her foster family and start her life over.
On the streets, Joon finally finds comfort with a group of homeless teenagers. But things are never what they seem, and there is always a price to pay for safety on the streets. NEVER BE ALONE is a story of homelessness but hopefulness, as Joon’s relentless determination eventually helps her find her place in the world and make a difference.
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I won this book from a Goodreads Giveaway and the author and publisher were nice enough to send it to me. All opinions of the book are my own.
First off, I think this book is for MATURE ADULTS only. GRAPHIC CONTENT. Read with caution because this book will tear your heart and soul apart. Have plenty of Kleenex on hand.
Where to begin? I actually finished this book, yesterday, but I needed a few minutes to put my thoughts together. A first for me on any book I ever read. This a very heart wrenching story that had me crying by the second chapter. I had to take breaks from it just to regroup. I cried throughout the whole book.
Even though it is fiction, it gives you a look at teen homelessness through the eyes of Joon. What she endured, at the hands of others, was unbelievable. What she had to do to stay alive, the places she had to live, heart wrenching.
This book makes you realize that not all homeless people are drug addicts or crazy. Some have no other choice but to be on the streets, I know that may sound crazy. Some are forced out onto the streets because of circumstances they can’t control. Even though it’s fiction, it has made me look at homelessness in a different light. I feel there is some truth to this book.
Again, this is a book for MATURE ADULTS – I am talking 25 & up, not 18 to 24. Read with caution because it will tear your heart and soul apart.
I have never read a book that will make me feel the pain the main character was going through, nor had I ever had tears in my eyes from reading; this author has the ability to make you feel sad, pain, and cry just from words. As we always think that things will always get better when we have bad times, well, it’s definitely not the case for this main character. I suggest all the spoil brats out there to read this book, so they can appreciate all the things they have, and the good lives they’re living.
One of the best books I have read in a long time. The story draws you in and you just have to keep reading!
So sad that little ones have to go through this type of life!
This story is shattering in the sense that anyone who thinks the world is a bed of roses for every kid, and therefore they’re just an ungrateful lot is wrong. Once we learn that there is a harsh reality of the opposite for some of them. Before reading this my main belief why kids left home was mainly because they didn’t want to follow the rules set forth by their “good” parents. That they were just unruley brats. I also didn’t know the harsh truth about how some childrens services who are suppose to act in their best interest and safety are lax in their follow up visits to homes where they have placed children. So the helpless children fall between the cracks and live the misery of abuse. Chapter 86 is a real tear jerker. I’m so glad I read this story because it was a real learning experience for me. Thank you Paige for the eye opener.
Excellent read, however the ending was unexpected.
Gritty, unfortunate tale of modern life. I always have to be reading another, lighter book when I read one of hers, just to offset some of the brutality that comes with her stories, this is no different.
I have not yet finished, but so far it is a real page turner.
Some portions of this book are very raw and difficult to read. The homelessness part of rhe book is very eye opening and sad. I loved the ending.
If you wish to sleep well, avoid this book. It is very,very disturbing! It speaks with painful reality of the darkness in our society, of the consequences of going along to get along.
First, the cover of this book is amazing. I found it to be an instant draw in choosing the book. As far as the story goes, the writer works hard at presenting a variety of characters for the reader to experience the good souls and the bad that a homeless girl like Joon needs to navigate in order to survive. There are horrible things that happen to this girl right from the start. I’m not one to shy away from such nastiness, but if you are, this book might not be for you.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t overly astounded by the story. Don’t get me wrong, it was okay, but I didn’t necessarily find myself hooked to the point where I needed to know what was going to happen next. There were a number of reasons for this, the first being what I felt was a lack of depth in some of the major players. I don’t want to give too much away, but the foster mom is an example. She starts out as being rotten from the start, and she came across as a stereotype bad foster mom without much justification to understand why. Deen was another example.
Once Joon hits the streets, there are a number of characters with greater depth, and a number of harrowing situations to keep the reader interested, but sometimes the dialogue felt too “honest,” or on the nose, and those moments drew me out of the story. Some relationships fell together too easily for me, but some developed nicely..
Overall, this was an okay read for me, and I fully recognize that my opinion is just that, an opinion. I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read it.
The premise is good. But it was too sugary. Joon fought through terrible times and even the best of persons would have thought darker thoughts.
To me, it was unbelievable. The dialogue didn’t flow, and I thought t wasn’t the way people thought or spoke. Nearly everybody in the world stubs their toe and says, “shit”. The most believable and real character is Raghead. Or was it Ragtop?
I found myself reading about a third of it then skipping to the last few chapters.
Sorry. I guess what I’m saying is this book, considering the premise, should have had a gritty writing style.