e-Audio, 07:45:41
Narrated by: A.J. Beckles & Preston Butler III
Release Date: September 22, 2020
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Read from: December 9-13, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Library
TW: Death
For fans of: Audio, Contemporary Romance, DEAR, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Science Fiction, Own Voices, POC MC, POC on Cover, Stand-alones, YAJustin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, delivers another smart, funny, and powerful stand-alone YA contemporary novel, with a speculative twist in which Jamal’s best friend is brought back to life after a freak accident . . . but they only have a short time together before he will die again.
Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know he’s about to die . . . again.
He also doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save his life, rescuing him from drowning only to watch Q die later in the hospital. Even more complicated, Jamal and Q haven’t been best friends in two years—not since Jamal’s parents died in a car accident, leaving him and his sister to carry on without them. Grief swallowed Jamal whole, and he blamed Q for causing the accident.
But what if Jamal could have a second chance? An impossible chance that would grant him the opportunity to say goodbye to his best friend? A new health-care technology allows Q to be reanimated—brought back to life like the old Q again. But there’s a catch: Q will only reanimate for a short time before he dies . . . forever.
Jamal is determined to make things right with Q, but grief is hard to shake. And he can’t tell Q why he’s suddenly trying to be friends with him again. Because Q has no idea that he died, and Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin the miracle by telling him. How can Jamal fix his friendship with Q if he can’t tell him the truth?
*MY THOUGHTS*
This took me a minute to read this because even though I love Justin Reynolds, I am not a huge fan of sci fi and I was kinda worried how this would go. And of course I had nothing to worry about. Yes it was sci fi, but it was paired with his writing style, Black Boy Feelings (because it wasn’t always joy), and so much more.
Jamal’s ex best friend Quincy almost drowned, but Jamal couldn’t let that happen. He tries saving his life, but he wasn’t fast enough. Jamal dies. But the doctors find a way to bring him back to life, but only for a short time. Jamal takes this as his chance to make things right with Q. Can they make things right?
I LOVE when contemporary books are told from a male POV. Most of the ones I’ve read show a different side to males than what they show on the outside. Especially in the Black community. From most of the men/boys I’ve encountered, they don’t always like to show emotion with anything, so for those books that show it, I always end up liking them so much more.
Not only did the characters show their emotion, but I ended up doing it too. I mean, did you read the synopsis? Reanimating someone who’s been killed? That you want to make things right with? That is actually connected to a very traumatic event to begin with? Yeah, I was crying all up and through this book lol Justina Reynolds knows how to write a tear-jerker man.
The ONLY reason I didn’t give this a full rating is because it felt too much like his first book. The reanimation felt like in his first book that had the groundhog day feel. It wasn’t the same where the same events kept happening, but it was still the same where Q came back to life. It was good, but I still wanted something different. I wanted to see what else he could do.
If you’re wondering about this book, don’t worry anymore. Just go out and read it. Make sure you have tissues because it is a punch in the guts, but I still think it could be enjoyed by anyone. Justin Reynolds is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.
Overall, I give this
