From the back cover:
All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him--but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such an all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her.
Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering irrevocable conclusion.
Wow--what a book! There were so many great things about this book, and a few things that I didn't like.
First of all, the characters: For some reason, I just didn't really connect with Hanna. Some of the things she did or said, I remember feeling and doing, but other things seemed a little out there. And I didn't get a lot of warmth from her. But I really felt for Helen. I felt for her when she was lonely and wanted Hanna to visit. And I felt for her when she became trapped in her own body due to her illness. And I loved the connection between Helen and Lon (her husband).
The story: I liked the love story part of it--the one between Helen and Lon that is, and Peter and Louise. And I guess the relationship between Hanna and Seth was semi-realistic although I could do without Seth getting high all of the time. I mean, to me, that just not the kind of character that I like and was disappointed that Hanna was in love with him. I was much more of a Jesse fan. Some of the story got a little boring for me--the parts that talked about taxidermy and women's reproductive rights just didn't do it for me.
But the ending is really what got me! It was so sad and I didn't see it coming. But it was sad in a good way--it felt right to me. And makes me want to have that type of love that will last forever.
I gave this book a rating of 4/5.
I reviewed this book for Pocket Books.
I reviewed this book for Pocket Books.
ABOUT THE AUTHORLaura Wiess is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Such a Pretty Girl, chosen as one of the ALA’s 2008 Best Books for Young Adults and 2008 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and Leftovers. Originally from Milltown, New Jersey, she traded bumper-to-bumper traffic, excellent pizza, and summer days down the shore for scenic roads, bears, no pizza delivery, and the irresistible allure of an old stone house surrounded by forests in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains Region.
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