Review Detail

One Line: Wonderful writing with a less than wonderful plot, but I still enjoyed it.

What I Loved: This is my first Deb Coletti book and I have to say, I really like her writing style. Even though the plot itself didn’t wow me, I enjoyed the way she wrote it and I’d have to say this is on the more positive (meaning I liked it more) end of YA contemporaries that I’ve read in the past. I really liked how Coletti tackled the theme of losing someone you love. It broke my heart a little seeing Tessa grieve after losing her mother, trying to make sense of her life and hold onto the one thing physical she has left of her mom’s that meant anything to her.

Left Me Wanting More: I really didn’t care for the romance in this at all. I think Tessa was more in love with the idea of being in love, having never really had a relationship, rather than actually loving Henry, but his role in her life is pretty important because he’s there for her during such an emotional time, so I think that would just mess with a teen’s head. I was definitely more interested in her getting through this hard time than experiencing anything romantic with Henry. Also, I seriously disliked her dad and wanted to knock some sense into him. Everyone handles grief in their own way, I get that, but just the way he treated Tessa and how things played out, I personally didn’t care for (from a parenting standpoint). It worked itself out, kind of, in the end, but I don’t know how I would handle that if I were in her situation, although I’m more of a grudge holder personally.

Final Verdict: If you enjoy good writing and an emotional story of loss and self-discovery, you may want to give this a try. Don’t expect to be wowed by the romance, which I felt was just there for romance’s sake.