e-Audio, 10:32:05
Narrated by: Sarah Beth Goer
Release Date: June 21, 2022
Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: June 30- July 2, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Car Accident, Drunk driver Mention, Grief
For Readers Interested In: Tear Jerker, Contemporary, Irregular Timelines, Family Diversity (Death of a Sibling), TW/CW, Bombshell/Cliff-hanger Ending, Realistic FictionIt’s been a year—a year of missing Nina. A year of milestones—holidays, birthdays, everything without her.
Leo feels like she should remember what happened that night. But all she knows is that she left the party and got into a car with Nina and Nina’s boyfriend, East.
East, who once promised Nina he’d watch out for her younger sister. East, who has been trying to keep that promise every day since. But East won’t give Leo the one thing she wants—the one thing she needs. He won’t tell her anything about the accident. He won’t talk about that night at all.
As the days tumble one into the next, Leo’s story comes together while her world falls apart. The only constant is the one person who can help her bear the enormous weight of her love for Nina—and East might be carrying too heavy a load of his own.
*MY THOUGHTS*
After reading Far from the Tree and Emmy and Oliver, I KNEW I had to get my hands on this one. I don’t know why I live for her breaking my heart. And this one was no different. I went in expecting to cry, and was still surprised when I actually did. Please be careful when you pick this up and be ready with some tissues lol
It’s been a year since Nina. She’s now missed a year’s worth of holidays and birthdays and more. And Leo can’t even remember what happened in her sister’s final moments. She’s been begging her sister’s old boyfriend to tell her what happened, but he just won’t. This story is told backwards as Leo is shown fighting her grief and trying to make sense of what happened that night. The only constant by her side is East. And he won’t tell her what happened. But, is the secret too big for East to carry on his own?
Ok first things first. I haven’t cried actual real tears from a YA book in a long time. And when I got this from TLA, I wasn’t really expecting much. Especially since I saw that it was told backwards. But when I started it, I just couldn’t stop. I ended up getting the audio because I just couldn’t read it fast enough. I wanted to read it every where I was and no matter what I was doing. I think Benway just has a way with words to me. And goodness, the fact that it was SO GOOD and backwards? Lawd, Idk about y’all but I thought that showed real talent. (I haven’t read a book this way before. I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of well done planning out, but Lordt this book did it for me.)
So more about the time line. To explain what I mean by backwards. It starts a year from the day of the accident. It shows Leo and her family getting ready for a memorial service. Now you might be thinking what exactly can the story be about? Just a teen girl with grief? But it’s so much more than that. It shows a teen girl with grief, but also how she’s handling still living, trying to remember what happened, and trying to also try not to feel guilty when she survived and the world keeps going but her sister can’t. It’s so uplifting throughout the story to see how she’s healing. It goes on to a couple months before the accident and then further in the past to show all the things that happened the year that Nina has been gone. Benway goes all the way through the accident. And that’s where the tears come from. There is a bombshell ending that I was NOT expecting, and I don’t think you will either.
This was also filled with great characters also. Leo is shown as sad and hurt and so is East. They leaned on each other after just meeting on that terrible night. The way they came together when they needed the other felt so real. I couldn’t imagine having to go through something like that with someone you hardly even know. But the way they came through for each other was beautiful in my opinion. (Yes they only remained friends.)
This book was such a surprise for me. It was the third irregular timeline book I’ve read lately and I’ve loved all of them. They’ve just worked really well for me. I hope there’s more to come this year. Otherwise you can catch me reading Benway’s newest over and over again.
Overall, I give this
