Published in 2010 by Walker Books Limited
Pages: 310
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Sypnosis from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey.
But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to centre stage of her own life – and suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two boys. One boy takes Lennie out of her sorrow; the other comforts her in it. But the two can’t collide without Lennie’s world exploding.
My Review:
Let me just say, firstly, I had high hopes for this book, partially because the sypnosis sounded really feely, and it was; and also I’ll Give You The Sun (by the same author), is one of my all time favourite reads.
So when I started this book, I found it raw and emotional; what with Lennie explaining how her sister had died suddenly, and it was definitely sad to read about; I mean, how would I feel if I lost a loved one? Heartbroken, definitely. Throughout this book, Lennie goes on a journey of sorts of dealing with her grief, and I definitely found that aspect effective and emotional, however; I didn’t like how much romance was brought into this story; honestly, it wasn’t necessary and in my opinion, both make love interests were exceptionally underdeveloped and tiresome characters; and it is these characters that change Lennie, honestly she started to annoy me with her constant thinking of both of them; however, I did love the flashback notes between Lennie and her beloved sister Bailey; I loved how Bailey’s presence was constantly felt throughout the book, along with various revelations that definitely made her death even more sad!
I also enjoyed the interactions between Lennie and her grandmother; it showed how grief affects everyone and there were definitely some sad moments between the two, I only wish we learnt more about her gran’s thoughts; and love interests aside; I did like Lennie’s character, for most part. I mean she was definitely unique, named after John Lennon, a bookworm (yet I still don’t understand why she and her gran hacked up a copy of her most beloved book?) because, to me, the literary references throughout were always a part of Lennie’s character, and indeed I related; but anyway; this was definitely an interesting story of love and loss, and coming to terms with grief. I just wish some things were given more page time than others.
And that concludes my review, until next time, happy reading,
Brooklyn
