Book Review: Survive by Alex Morel

**I received this book from Around the World ARC Tours for review**

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Hatchet meets Lost in this modern-day adventure tale of one girl's reawakening

Jane is on a plane on her way home to Montclair, New Jersey, from a mental hospital. She is about to kill herself. Just before she can swallow a lethal dose of pills, the plane hits turbulence and everything goes black. Jane wakes up amidst piles of wreckage and charred bodies on a snowy mountaintop. There is only one other survivor: a boy named Paul, who inspires Jane to want to fight for her life for the first time.

Jane and Paul scale icy slopes and huddle together for warmth at night, forging an intense emotional bond. But the wilderness is a vast and lethal force, and only one of them will survive.

My Thoughts:  Do you remember that song, Ironic by Alanis Morrissett?  That song played through my head while I read this book!  This is not your carefree, fun read.  This book talks about big issues such as death, suicide, love and of course, survival.  That being said, I thought this was a very interesting book and I thought it a little ironic.  Here is a girl that WANTS to die and yet she is one of the only survivors of a plane crash...

Jane lives at Life House, a mental hospital for kids.  Jane was sent their after an "incident".  Her incident was a suicide attempt.  You see, Jane's grandmother and her father have both committed suicide.  Jane has been dealing with depression and suicidal tendencies and they come naturally to her.  Jane is also a planner.  In fact, she has planned how she is going to end her life this time.  It's a good plan too. 

Jane has earned enough "points" to go home for Christmas.  This is part of her plan.  She is going to get on the plane, take a lethal dose/mixture of sleeping pills and be dead before the plane hits the ground.  She has planned every little detail from earning her points, to getting the pills, to making sure none of the staff at Life House suspect a thing.  What she doesn't plan is for the plane she is on to crash.  She also didn't plan to be one of only two survivors.  Now Jane and Paul must figure out how they are going to survive.

I had mixed feelings about Jane.  As someone who has had to deal with depression for many years, I know what it is like and thought I would connect with her a little more.  Now, I haven't dealt with suicidal tendencies so I knew I wouldn't understand that part but Jane blames her suicidal thoughts on the fact that it's in her family.  That's it.  No other reasons there.  I just didn't buy it.  Once she is put in the position of fighting for her life (and wanting to live), I felt better about her.  I thought she was a stronger character and she obviously did want to live.  She could have thrown in the towel a few times and I was glad to see her fight.

Paul was a great character too!  He was funny and he was good for Jane.  I really liked how there was no "insta-love"!  That made the story much more realistic for me.  His experience dealing with his brother's death helped Jane deal with her father's death a little more too, I think.  I really enjoyed watching Jane and Paul's relationship grow and be something more than just your "love at first sight" romance.  Plus, the romance obviously didn't take over the story. 

This was a fast paced and exciting read.  Not a fun and carefree read but one that is definitely worth picking up.  There were some things left unanswered for me but for the most part, I enjoyed this one.