Styx & Stones

This story how do you describe courage and pain in such deep beautiful words but she did it and it was the most beautiful raw emotional pain stricken story of two beautiful souls wanting to live and finding their way together and leaning on each other for strengh and comfort that sent me on a blubbering sobbing mess.
Styx and Stones had so much life in them the banter and the jokes and teasing with all the feelings right from page one a love like no other and it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read . The situation and the characters were given full justice and their story is outstanding their embedded in my head and I don’t think their gonna leave anytime soon.

I have been intrigued by Styx when we first met him in Harley & Rose with his cocky teen attitude, so I was eager to read his full story. I just knew that for all the things Styx had experienced, he would be very passionate about Stones and it would pack a huge punch to read their tale.

This was an epic novel depicting all the angst of a teen romance with the added dilemma of them both having cancer. It’s Styx’s second time having chemo and Stones’s first, so he takes her under his wing to explain the ins and outs of living with cancer. Hand in hand they feel they can take on the world and they set about on a journey to discover and make a few other firsts together.

This book is full of emotions and you can’t help but be moved by the writing. Yes I was sad but I also felt I witnessed something extremely special with this couple. I know they will be with me for some time while I smooth in the epilogue. This is definitely a book not to be missed.

I have to admit I was a little bit filled with trepidation knowing the underlying topic of this story however I can truly say it is so much more and so carefully crafted. The darker side of the cancer is balanced with humour, especially through Styx, and he has a wicked sense of humour. I literally couldn’t put this down!

Styx Hendricks and Alaska Stone, although at the same high school, get to know each other through chemotherapy treatments and their illnesses. This is their story.

Styx comes across as brash and full of bravado but there is a lot more to him. His use of humour to help him cope with the gravity of the situation he finds himself in actually is funny, he endeared himself to me very quickly. Stones, as a character, I found to be very realistic and I could totally understand her reactions. I enjoyed watching her growth and especially liked how she also started to respond with humour. I found Styx’s reaction to her doing interesting though.

I’m not going to lie, the emotions in this story are deep and intense and at times heartbreaking. The ending is perfect though! I know this story is going to stay with me forever.

I was warned. I knew what would happen. And still, I cried and cried. I feel cleansed. Also on the plus side, I thought I had all the answers and still this author managed to give me a twist. I was surprised, moved, broken, put back together and in love. The story made me feel young and a little hopeful. Like I said, I didn’t listen to the warning lol. This characters gave me a different perspective of what it is to handle a disease. To handle the worst reality possible. There is no uncertainty about the outcome, just the journey. I learned through these characters the struggle between worrying about pleasing and giving a sense of security to loved ones versus being selfish. There is actually no wrong choice. This is a breath taking, easy to read and eye opening story.

I’m an actual mess.

How does one describe a book that completely floored me and left me speechless. A book that has left me so emotional I’m weak from crying. It’s like a huge truck has taken to driving over my heart, reversing back and rolling over it again. It aches, I’m emotional and extremely sad. I knew, I just knew that I’d feel like this and I’m absolutely loving that it did. A book that can make me feel like this is a book well written. I loved every aching moment of it.

Styx and Stones have been dealt the bad hand in life. Cancer sucks, so damn bad but they don’t let it stop them from living. Following these two in their journey is absolute fun. I love their banter and the fact they can laugh when things don’t look good. They’re amazing friends and I absolutely love that so much.

This book may not be for everyone but it was one for me. Having multiple people in my family go through this disease (except they were a lot older) I have to give Carmen the praise she deserves. This beauty is so well written and shows just how heartbreaking this disease can be and how it affects one that it’s taken over. She truly did an amazing job on putting this into book form.

Knowing it comes from Harley & Rose I knew, I just knew it was going to be a sad one but me loving an ugly cry just had to get my eyes stuck into it and an ugly cry sure as hell happened.

Carmen Jenner truly is an incredible writer, I’ve only read one other book from this author but I loved it too, I’m definitely going to be reading more from this author in the future.

Styx and Stones is a heartbreaking YA romance that will make you shed tears by the bucket loads but also smile like a Cheshire Cat. It’s one of the greatest sad books I’ve ever had the pleasure of crying over.

I am at a loss for words. My heart. My poor fucking heart. I knew this book was going to be an ugly-cry but fuck me… I am speechless.

Carmen Jenner has talent, that is no secret… and this book just shows you a prime example of that talent. It was flawless, it was gut-wrenching, it was heart shatteringly good. I went into this book blind in a sense. I knew what it was about because of the blurb but nothing prepared me for the flood of emotions that came my way. I was a mess throughout the book, having to put it down every so often and take a breather…

It’s about two people that find each other at the most horrid time in their lives, yet it was the most perfect time.. Both battling cancer at a young age. It was Stones first time with cancer but Styx second… So naturally he helped her through to what is to come.. and over time they created a bond that no one could break. These two weren’t just battling cancer, they battle it alongside the normal angsty hell that teens go through,… It was beautiful. They leaned on each other, they helped right the demon taking over their bodies. It truly was beautiful.

I don’t want to dive too deep into this. It one of those books you need to experience yourself. but I will say… It is a hell of an emotional ride. Be prepared to be gut-punched over and over, make sure you have tissues close. This book isn’t about an easy subject, but the author wrote it so well… and as much as it ripped me to shreds over and over, the story was incredible…

5-Ugly-Cry-Stars!

You know that saying “may as well make the most of it”? “make good out of a bad situation” well, you could say these characters did that, Styx Hendricks was an amazing and inspirational character and dragged Alaska Stone right along with him on their journey into forever, their positivity was infectious.

Two people each with terminal illnesses, two people who find love and comfort in each other in their last days.

“Our diagnoses brought us together, but it may be the very thing that tears us apart.”

To say I was an absolute snotty, tearful, blubbering mess when I finished this book would be an understatement. This book is going to take some getting over.
What a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. How bittersweet. Carmen Jenner, you broke me with your wonderful, inspiring words and these beautiful characters.

I laughed, I cried, I finished in awe.

Cancer sucks.

“We’re gonna be late,” Stones whispers. “Late for what?” She grins and presses her lips to mine. “Forever.”

STYX & STONES Is a full length mature YA/Romance novel by Carmen Jenner. Spoken in Dual POV’s.

I knew headed into Carmen Jenner’s newest release that my emotions were going to be put through the ringer, but what I also knew was that I would be a better person for reading it and that I would meet two dynamic and amazing young adults who would teach me lessons that only people like Styx Hendricks and Alaska Stone could teach and that even though there truly only seemed to be one outcome for these two, their journey of friendship and love is not to be missed, regardless of the many tears that were shed.

Throughout the course of the story, Jenner illustrates cancer in all of its fucked up grandeur, holding nothing back when it comes to this debilitating disease or the struggles that Alaska must endure due to her diagnosis. Like her characters, Carmen Jenner shows so much strength and courage in her story telling. This story is not an easy read; it’s not for every reader due to the subject matter and the fact that we can be assured that at some point either one or both of the main characters will have to face their death and deal with it at a young age, making readers question the sense of it all, but there’s also a lesson in that…one that illustrates the fact that happily ever afters don’t look the same for everyone, especially when there are extenuating circumstances – ones that have more control over them than the characters would like.

I adored Styx gallows humor and his cynical view of most things, but when it came to Alaska, he’s all about doing whatever he can to get her to truly see him and give him a chance to be with her regardless of how short their time together could possibly be. I loved that there’s a bit of a backstory of to their relationship, even if it was a one-sided crush. The idea that Styx went for it and Stones opened herself up to him made for many steamy and swoon worthy moments.

As heavy as the subject matter is in Styx & Stones, Jenner lightens things up in different parts of the story, and she does this so that even though her readers may be overwhelmed with what the two main characters have to go through, there is light moments amidst the dark ones and that’s what you need to hold on to as the heartbreaking and trying moments begin to take over.

Styx and Alaska’s story is most definitely a love story, but it’s so much more than that…it’s about fighting even when you don’t feel like it any longer…it’s about living each moment the way it should be lived, fully and present, making all of them count, not holding anything back because you never one which one may be the last.

I applaud Carmen Jenner for telling Styx and Alaska’s story…for using their voices to show all the highs and lows involved in love and loss…in living and dying, and offering hope in the most hopeless of situations.

4.5 Poison Apples

“What are you staring at?”
“I’m staring at my fucking future, Stones.”

Cancer. Six letters. Such a small word, but it carries a huge burden. Styx Hendricks at the tender age of seventeen knows this very well. Having faced this situation in the past, he is facing another round of chemotherapy to try to prolong his life, which is on the brink because a recurrent cancer. His sarcasm is the way he found to deal with everything that is going on. After all, accepting the fact that your future perspective is nil, is no easy task. But between chemotherapy sessions, side effects, hair loss, nothing had prepared him to watch the new patient who had just entered the room. If fate is cruel, to conjure the girl he has always been in love with in this hospital hell is simply sadism.

Alaska Stone is still anesthetized by the diagnosis she just heard. Teenagers don’t have cancer, do they? Her headaches turned out to be her worst nightmare. Seeing the lonely boy from her school may be the beginning to get answers to her many questions. How to keep fighting when all you want to do is give up and rest?

Prepare several boxes of tissues. The crying is free during the narrative. Styx and Alaska know each other in the worst of situations, at the worst of times. Supporting each other, they will sail across this unfamiliar sea, and while trying to make the most of their remaining time, they curse the lack of a future, the loss of achievements and accomplishments that will never come true.

The author plays with references to another very famous book (which even became a movie) on the same theme. But unlike this other work, Carmen Jenner focuses more on the human side, on how a disease affects others, besides patients. Styx’s parents’ marriage did not survive their son’s illness and debts. Stones, on the other hand, sees her father sink into work and her mother develop an intimate friendship with several glasses of wine.

When they decide to run off on a journey in search of one last adventure, they will get a preview of what their lives could be, and through several first discoveries, they will make the most of this short time. But their conditions will not let them dream long.

Although the tone of the narrative was already drawn by Styx in the prologue, nothing prepared me for the final chapters. With so much suffering between these two, the opportunity for a little moment of joy can be the final ending.

Carmen Jenner excelled in this book. Her best work so far. A difficult, sad subject that will make readers think about their own existence and how ephemeral is its duration.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest Review *

So I was unsure how a YA book by Carmen Jenner would be, since I have known and loved her adult romance books. But I had no need to worry, because this one grabbed me from the start. I’d like to compare it to The Fault in Our Stars, but since the characters themselves name that book and one of them kind of calls it out, I feel like I shouldn’t. LOL! Okay, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have an LOL in a review of a book about kids with cancer, but as I loved in the author’s other books, her sense of humor is a huge part of the story, and to me, that is real life. This book was so intense, but so good, and such a page-turner. I picked it up knowing I had one day to get it read, and believe me, the only thing that almost kept me from doing that was all the things I had going on during a Sunday. Notice I said almost. If it wasn’t for my usual Sunday activities, I’d have had this completely read before I ever left the house.

This is not going to be your usual happy ending, even a happy ending for a teens with cancer story. I’m trying really hard not to spoil anything, so you may want to stop before going any further, because my thoughts may possibly spoil stuff for you. So, the ending, well the ending made me think a lot about the very end of the Titanic movie. If you remember that scene, you’ll know what I mean when you read this one. I like that our characters did what any normal teen would do in this type of situation, or what you’d hope they’d do. I like that the author made things happen realistically. Things weren’t miraculously okay after the big scare. There were repercussions for doing the irresponsible things. Life-threatening repercussions. The big “cure” or solution wasn’t the perfect solution in the end. But then, they were still just teens. They were real. And the author was able to throw in her usual sexiness that I know and enjoy in her books, but she was able to make it teenage realistic. Not just that, but it was today’s teen realistic. It made sense for what teens today might do or know or use to become knowledgeable.

Overall a great book, just solidified for me that I’ll read anything by this author and probably love it. Also found out this is a bit of a spin-off from another book by the author that I’ll have to go back and read.