Saturday, December 31, 2011

Book Review- How to Save a Life

I just finished reading How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Jill MacSweeny just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she's been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends--everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she's somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.

Mandy Kalinowski understands what it's like to grow up unwanted--to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she's sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It's harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?

As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy--or as difficult--as it seems.

Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr delivers a heart-wrenching story, told from dual perspectives, about the many roads that can lead us home.
 
This was such a sad, yet heartwarming story.  I don't always care for books told from 2 points of view, but I really liked how this was done.
 
Mandy broke my heart.  I felt so bad for her.  To grow up with a mom like she did and be told things she was told--how horrible.  And to have her mom's boyfriend behave the way he did!  She was so naive and innocent about so many things.  I just wanted to hug her.
 
And then I felt so bad for Jill.  Reading this story about how the main character lost her dad was a little hard since one of my close friends just lost her mom suddenly this week.  But I really liked Jill too.  And I wanted her to get a little bit of closure and be happy.
 
I felt like there was going to be some huge sad twist that would be piss me off, but (hopefully I'm not giving too much away), but there wasn't.  Only a little twist but a happy one.  If all of Sara Zarr's books are like this, I can't wait to read more!
 
I gave this book a rating of 4/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 A to Z Challenge: Z
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 122
2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 98
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 98
2011 YA Contemporary Challenge: 22
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.

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