Review: Everything That Makes You by Moriah McStay

Everything That Makes You
by Moriah McStay
Website | Twitter | Facebook

Publication Date: March 17th 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780062295484
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Realistic Fiction
Source: Edelweiss

Add to Goodreads

Available for Purchase:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

One girl. Two stories. Meet Fiona Doyle. The thick ridges of scar tissue on her face are from an accident twelve years ago. Fiona has notebooks full of songs she’s written about her frustrations, her dreams, and about her massive crush on beautiful uber-jock Trent McKinnon. If she can’t even find the courage to look Trent straight in his beautiful blue eyes, she sure isn’t brave enough to play or sing any of her songs in public. But something’s changing in Fiona. She can’t be defined by her scars anymore.

And what if there hadn’t been an accident? Meet Fi Doyle. Fi is the top-rated female high school lacrosse player in the state, heading straight to Northwestern on a full ride. She’s got more important things to deal with than her best friend Trent McKinnon, who’s been different ever since the kiss. When her luck goes south, even lacrosse can’t define her anymore. When you’ve always been the best at something, one dumb move can screw everything up. Can Fi fight back?

Hasn’t everyone wondered what if? In this daring debut novel, Moriah McStay gives us the rare opportunity to see what might have happened if things were different. Maybe luck determines our paths. But maybe it’s who we are that determines our luck. (Goodreads)

Everything That Makes You is the wonderfully written debut novel by Moriah McStay. This is a story of ‘What Ifs’. What would happen if your life went in a completely different direction than you expected? What if there was one circumstance that completely changed the course of your life? What if? What if?

The story is about Fiona Doyle, a girl who was in a terrible accident when she was a child and was left with disfiguring scars on her face. To cope, she writes songs that deal with all the frustrations that she experiences in her life; songs she never has the courage to sing in public, undeterred by her best friend Lucy’s insistence. She’d prefer to stay hidden, just another face in the crowd, than to bring attention to herself. The choices that Fiona makes in the story change her world forever, in ways that she never thought possible. 

We also meet Fi Doyle in the story, through alternating chapters. Fi is a girl who was never in an accident as a child, who instead is one of the top-rated lacrosse players in her state, who has a bright future ahead of her with a scholarship at a great college. But Fi makes different choices through the story, one in particular that changes her path in ways that she herself never expected as well.

While most of the secondary characters in the novel are in both storylines, they are all different in each story as well. I can say that in both storylines she was surrounded by pretty great people, especially by her brother Ryan. He was such a great brother to her, and you could tell he really loved his sister.

I really liked that the story was told from different viewpoints, but from the same character. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this before, and I was totally hooked, waiting to see what was going to happen for both Fiona and Fi. The story takes place from high school on through college, so we really get to see the different paths and choices that these girls make. It was definitely interesting to read.

Overall; I really enjoyed Everything That Makes You so much more than I expected to. I’m super excited to read more books by Moriah Mcstay in the future, as I’d love to see what she will come up with next! Add this book to your to-read list, or order a copy today!