Book Review: Sia

Title: Sia
Author: Josh Grayson
Publisher: Self-Published
Rating: 4

Synopsis (via Goodreads): When seventeen-year-old Sia wakes up on a park bench, she has no idea who or where she is. Yet after a week of being homeless, she’s reunited with her family. At school, she’s powerful and popular. At home, she’s wealthy beyond her dreams. But she quickly realizes her perfect life is a lie. Her family is falling apart and her friends are snobby, cruel and plastic. Worse yet, she discovers she was the cruelest one. Mortified by her past, she embarks on a journey of redemption and falls for Kyle, the “geek” she once tormented. Yet all the time she wonders if, when her memories return, she’ll become the bully she was before…and if she’ll lose Kyle.

Review: The action in Sia started from the very first page and kept my attention until the end. Waking up on a park bench with no recollection of her memory, Sia has no idea where to go or what to do. The fact that a seventeen-year-old girl, who is both athletic and healthy, loses her memory out of no where surprised me. I was naive to think that teenagers only lose their memory as a result of a physical accident, not from stress overload. She quickly learns why she was so stressed in the first place after her parents identify her and bring her home to their mansion. Sia's family is beyond rich, she's beyond spoiled, and she's also beyond mean. Sia acknowledges the fact that her family maid and driver appear to be skittish around her, but doesn't understand why. The ugly truth slowly unburies itself from the depths of Sia's past life, and she's disgusted. She wants to be a different, better person and will stop at nothing to change her personality.

I couldn't help but cheer Sia on after she promises herself to change. She participates in activities that the old version of her never would've imagined doing including living on the streets with a sweet, homeless lady and helping run a fundraiser for the Red Cross. She breaks up with her old boyfriend, quits cheerleading, leaves her old clique and joins a new one. A clique she used to make fun of. A clique who slowly accepts her, but leaves one on the edge, nervous what will happen once Sia regains her memory.

Kyle was a mysterious character who was nervous about opening up to Sia. She had been mean to him in the past, as were her friends, but he couldn't help thinking that once she regained her memory, she wouldn't remain the better, changed person she wanted to be. He kept his walls high and didn't allow Sia in until the awards night, but he quickly regretted it, letting his conscious get the best of him. I understood why Kyle was so cautious around Sia after she had lost her memory and it made him appear to be a stronger character. He was a genuinely sweet, intelligent guy who quickly made me fall in love with him. He was like Kristoff from Frozen. (Oh, how I love Kristoff). (:

The awards night wins favorite book scene in Sia hands down. I applaud Josh Grayson for his magnificent imagery skills that made me feel as though I was at the Grammys. Or Oscars. In person. Let's face the facts: Sia was well written overall. It was the perfect popular girl/nerd guy story that every bookworm is sure to enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.