Everyone's sorry. But no one can explain why.
Harper Scott's older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated. So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June's ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going—California.
Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession…and an unknown connection to June. When he insists on joining them, Harper's just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanor and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what Harper needs. Except…Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down—again.
Review:
If you have been reading my blog and/or my reviews for any length of time, you’ll probably know that I have a soft spot for the YA contemporary genre. Therefore, when I first heard about Saving June by Hannah Harington, I knew I had to read it. Secrets, road trips, and hot, mysterious boys?! It was combining some of my favorite aspects of contemps all in one shot! Thankfully, Saving June turned out to be everything I had hoped and wanted it to be, and it even managed to surprise me in some ways!
One of the main reasons why I enjoyed Saving June as much as I did was because of the characters. For one, I adored Harper! She was sweet, realistic, and savvy…just an overall great girl- even if she didn’t sometimes realize it herself. I was constantly hooked my her narrative, because not only did it manage to thoroughly express her emotions in a heartbreaking yet concise and unique way, but also it was just fun to see everything through her eyes, especially a certain Jake Tolan. To tell the truth, I wasn’t too sure of Jake when he was first introduced. He seemed a bit too hard around the edges and snarky given his first conversation with Harper. However, throughout Saving June he managed to surprise me in some pretty amazing ways because he was actually a nice and hilarious guy deep down He also was someone who truly respected the people he cared about, especially when it came to Harper, which was nice to see in the swarm of sometimes pompous YA boys. Lastly, I also enjoyed the character of Laney, June’s sidekick and travel buddy. Laney is the typical “I just wanna have fun!” girl but she was easy to like nonetheless!
The plot in this one was also contained lots of fun as well as suspense and intrigue! The road trip aspect truly carried the book to great places, because not only did it allow the characters to grow fully, but it was also just fun to see them interact with each other and their surroundings. What I also enjoyed about this book was the fact that the June dying thing wasn’t the main point of the book. Instead, Saving June was mostly about Harper coming out of her shell and coming to understand why certain things happened in life and how to come to terms with them. In addition, this review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the steamy (for YA standards!) romance between Harper and Jake! I would be lying if I said I didn’t see it coming from ten miles away, but it still managed to surprise me nevertheless. What I enjoyed about it the most, though, was the fact that it developed at a reasonable and slow pace…first they were friends then something more…it caused for it all to seem more real, in my opinion.
One of the main reasons why I enjoyed Saving June as much as I did was because of the characters. For one, I adored Harper! She was sweet, realistic, and savvy…just an overall great girl- even if she didn’t sometimes realize it herself. I was constantly hooked my her narrative, because not only did it manage to thoroughly express her emotions in a heartbreaking yet concise and unique way, but also it was just fun to see everything through her eyes, especially a certain Jake Tolan. To tell the truth, I wasn’t too sure of Jake when he was first introduced. He seemed a bit too hard around the edges and snarky given his first conversation with Harper. However, throughout Saving June he managed to surprise me in some pretty amazing ways because he was actually a nice and hilarious guy deep down He also was someone who truly respected the people he cared about, especially when it came to Harper, which was nice to see in the swarm of sometimes pompous YA boys. Lastly, I also enjoyed the character of Laney, June’s sidekick and travel buddy. Laney is the typical “I just wanna have fun!” girl but she was easy to like nonetheless!
The plot in this one was also contained lots of fun as well as suspense and intrigue! The road trip aspect truly carried the book to great places, because not only did it allow the characters to grow fully, but it was also just fun to see them interact with each other and their surroundings. What I also enjoyed about this book was the fact that the June dying thing wasn’t the main point of the book. Instead, Saving June was mostly about Harper coming out of her shell and coming to understand why certain things happened in life and how to come to terms with them. In addition, this review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention the steamy (for YA standards!) romance between Harper and Jake! I would be lying if I said I didn’t see it coming from ten miles away, but it still managed to surprise me nevertheless. What I enjoyed about it the most, though, was the fact that it developed at a reasonable and slow pace…first they were friends then something more…it caused for it all to seem more real, in my opinion.
Lastly, Hannah Harrington’s writing in this was fabulous! At times, I couldn’t believe this was just her first novel because it was so good! She just fully captured the voices and thoughts of her characters perfectly, and she even managed to throw in some great plot twists occasionally as well. I seriously cannot wait to read more by her.
Heartbreaking, realistic, and romantic, Saving June by Hannah Harrington is a new favorite of mine! My only wish? That we could have more books about Harper, Jake, and Laney…However, I’ll settle for a new book by Harrington any day!
Highly, highly, highly recommended, especially to lovers of the contemporary genre!
Grade: A+
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
I am starting this one soon! It sounds so good, I cannot wait. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteFabulous review! I love when books surprise me. I'm glad to hear that Harper is fantastic protagonist and that there's no insta-love. Sounds like I must check this book out!
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