Author: Claire Zorn
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: October 3rd, 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: ARC from publisher for honest review
My rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her. I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty-one days old.
Hannah's world is in pieces and she doesn't need the school counsellor to tell her she has deep-seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn't have problems?
Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn't afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?
In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl's struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.
My Review:
So, as you know, I think I almost always seem to lead off with the fact that I don't read a lot of YA contemporary. However, it seems as if lately I'm reading a lot more of it than I used to. Partly because that is what I keep seeming to get ARCs of, partly because there are so many issues out there these days, that I want to be on top of the best books to get for my students at the school library where I am a librarian. Even though it seems most of my students at my school are more into the fantasy and other more unrealistic books, like I used to be. I kind of see their reasoning, it is the same reasoning I have always had for not reading contemporary. When I read, I usually am just looking to be taken away, out of the daily world and problems, and so it is nice to have it be nonrealistic, or to see the things I'm feeling in strange situations, to make me be able to deal with them better. Does that make sense? I don't know, those are just my thoughts. Okay, so randomness here, not really reviewing the book I guess, let's get on with that.
Honestly, because of my normal reluctance to read this genre, I picked this one up, not sure if I would even finish it. Not sure if I would like it. But then, as often happens I picked it up, and was sucked into the story. Because the author doesn't give it all away at the beginning, you have to kind of get the back story in bits and pieces of details given throughout the story, it keeps you turning pages to find out just what life was like for Hannah. You also aren't quite sure of what the exact accident was that caused her older sister to die. In fact, due to many things talking about this book having to do with bullying, I was definitely thinking that was the type of incident that happened.
However, what unfolded was a much different story than I was prepared for. In a good way. Having the possible cause of the accident be a little murky, not as well defined as you would think made for a very good point about just how angry could you be at what caused it. Reading about the relationship between Hannah and her older sister was very interesting, to see the type of inflammatory things that could happen between sisters was also very realistic. If you're someone like me, a socially awkward person, you totally can side with Hannah. If you're more outgoing like her sister, you might see that side more.
One of my favorite parts of the story was definitely Josh. He made me smile and laugh, and I'm glad he ended up being a character for Hannah to connect with. Definitely a highly recommended book, and one on the list of books to buy for the library where I work.