In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Hardcover, 235 pages

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Stand-alone

Source: Gifted from Lori

For fans of: Romance, Chick-lit, Road Trips, Adventure, Contemporary Romance, Grief, Realistic Fiction, Stand-alones, LOL

     Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.

     Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn . . . and ruggedly good-looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn–but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

*MY THOUGHTS*

“…some things are so true you can feel ’em right here. She put her hand to her chest. And that’s one of ’em. You two are meant to be in this together. Here.”
pg. 134

     Honor is grief stricken by her brother’s passing and loads up her things and heads to a concert after he leaves her something. But all of a sudden Rusty, her brother’s old friend, comes out of nowhere and he’s very different from what he used to be. He joins Honor on her journey on her road trip and from there, many adventures unfold. 

“Denial’s a stubborn thing. And necessary at first, so the world doesn’t come crashing down on you all at once.”
pg. 137

     What was throwing me off from originally reading this was the road trip aspect. When this book came out I wasn’t really into contemporaries and those I did read, I didn’t want to feature road trips because I felt they were boring and had nothing happening. But this one was completely different from what I thought it would be. Rusty and Honor find themselves visiting different places and meeting and interacting with other people. These little stops they made at the different places were what made the story for me. Every time there was some weird event where I was left laughing out loud. Literally. 

“…it seemed like no matter where you thought you were supposed to be, life had other ideas.”
pg. 220

     I loved Honor. I loved her because I could connect with her. I’ve lost many people in my life and I found myself acting the same manner she did; grief, acting on whims, and of course a trait I already had, stubbornness. As for Rusty, I really didn’t like him for a while. He was a complainer and for him to be the older one, it felt like Honor was babysitting him. But as I’ve said before, people deal with grief in their own way. His way just seemed to be different than others. 

“…he loved you. And that’s what you do for people you love. You do what you can to help ’em out, give things up if that’s what needs to happen. It’s not complicated.”
pg. 225

     In the end, this book turned out to be a really sweet book. After reading this and Golden, Jessi Kirby can really do no wrong to me. I will definitely be looking forward to her newest release which comes out later this year. 

Overall, I give this