Review: Rules of Rain by Leah Scheier

 Rules of Rain
By Leah Scheier
My Rating: 3 Stars
Publication Date: December 5th, 2017
Date Read: February 2018
Audiobook 9 hours 22 minutes

 Summary From Goodreads

A dramatic new novel about the bond between a teen and her twin brother.

Rain has taken care of Ethan all of her life. Before she even knew what autism meant, she's been her twin brother's connection to the hostile world around him. She's always prepared—when her father abandons them, when her mother gets sick, when Ethan is tortured by bullies from school—Rain is the reliable, stable one holding them all together. She's both cautious carer and mad chef, preparing customized meals for her family and posting crazy recipes on her cooking blog.

Each day with Ethan is unvarying and predictable, and she's sure that nothing will ever change—until one night when her world is turned upside down by a mistake she can't take back. As her new romance with her long-time crush and her carefully constructed life begins to unravel, she discovers that the fragile brother whom she's always protected has grown into a young man who no longer needs her. And now, for the first time, she finds that she needs him.

 My Review

I feel like this review is going to be a repeat of what everyone else has been saying about it... But here goes. There also may or may not be spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution if you haven't actually read the book yet.

I thought Rain was annoying at times, but then during others, I really could see where she was coming from. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that her trying to "fix" Ethan is okay because he's perfect the way he is, and yes, she was selfish at times, and then there were the times when she thought about how she wished that she had things that she wanted to do that were separate from Ethan.

But I think we all need to remember that Rain is, what? 17?  you can't honestly tell me that there are any 17 year olds who aren't selfish brats from time to time. Teenagers do/say/think things they don't really mean all the time. And if you're saying that you didn't and no one you know has, then you're lying.

And you can just stop right there, because I am NOT condoning it, or saying that the way she handled certain situations was okay, because it wasn't. I'm just pointing out the fact that she's a teenager, so maybe people should stop being so harsh on her

She does grow up throughout the book. It's a slow process, but it happens. She stops trying to control and fix everything.

If you want to talk about how immature people were, I’d like to point fingers at their mother. Even though she was originally portrayed as “the good parent” I had issues with her. How she refuses to accept the fact that Ethan is autistic. Instead of trying to focus on all the good and positive things with Ethan, and encouraging him, she just didn’t… I know the dad was the one who was “out of the picture” and he cheated on the mom and fell in love with someone else. But, he was way more supportive of Ethan and Rain. He talked to them, he encouraged them to follow their dreams. He was the one who helped Ethan go outside of his comfort zone, and he was all for Rain going away on their own little adventure. Again, I’m not saying that his cheating was okay, but for all the bad things that he did, he was still way more supportive of his children. Their parents--their mom more specifically-- set them up to fail from the start.

I loved Ethan, okay. He was just so adorable, and I loved everything about him. I don’t have Autism, so I have no idea if that’s portrayed well or correctly, but I know that I really liked his character. He tried so hard throughout the whole book. He was just so… I don’t know, authentic. And sweet. And I really enjoyed getting to read his journal entries.  All of his Ethan-isms made my heart smile. His character is what made the story.

BIG SPOILER ALERT BIG SPOILER ALERT 

I was so confused by the whole Rain was pregnant for a minute thing. That was weird. And I don’t think that it was really important to the story. Other than just to prove once again how amazing Ethan is (because without him, Rain probably would have died)

END OF THE BIG SPOILER ALERT 

though there still may be more little ones coming

I liked Rain and Liam's relationship, and I was so sad when they broke up. Like, it actually hurt my heart. They were so cute together. They had their moments of awkwardness and uncertainty, and those imperfections are what made them so cute together. I'm a big fan of the HEA, and yes, I know, you don't need to have a significant other to be happy, but I for sure wanted them to be together. Liam was good for Rain.

Hope was a fantastic friend, even if she was a little overzealous at times. She always jumped without thinking, and sometimes it worked for her, and sometimes she needed to backpedal herself out real fast. She was so supportive of Ethan and Rain, and I liked how she told Rain that she knew Rain was jealous about her spending time with Ethan, and that's why she backed off for a little bit. To give Rain and Ethan time to figure things out.

I also love love loved the "Secret Rule" that actually melted my heart and made me tear up a little bit. It's the most wonderful thing I've read about in my entire life.

     "I said the phrase once just to see his reaction," she muses. "Secret Rule. He looked confused at first, but then he replied immediately, like it was part of a script. 'What can I do?' I didn't understand, so I asked him what he meant."
     "He was asking, 'what can I do to make you happy?'" I conclude softly.
      "Yes," she says. "It was so sweet. Like an algorithm for showing love." --Rules of Rain pages 343-344

Right? isn't that just the most heart melting thing you've read? There are still a lot of things that are said after this, that would make it make more sense, but you get the general idea of what;s going on.

But yes, this book is definitely worth a read. So what are you waiting for? Go get it!!