Released: May 1st, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 224
Overall:
Recommend Level: Medium
Acquired: Won from La Femme Readers.
Summary: My New Year's resolution: I'm moving on from everything that's happened. I'm not going to talk about it, think about it, let the memory pounce upon me like a waiting tiger, nothing.
All Sophie wants to do is forget. But it's not easy now that everything's changed. The house feels too big, school drags on for too long, lights are too bright, the room spins, and her hands get sweaty for no reason. And she can't remember why she was ever best friends with Abigail, who is obsessed with parties and boys. Only the new girl, Rosa-Leigh, with her prose poems and utter confidence, might understand. But talking to her seems impossible.
Lost in memories of the life she once had, Sophie retreats into herself. But there's only so long she can keep everything bottled up inside before she explodes. Maybe by confronting the tragedy of her past she'll figure out how to fix her future.
Review: I love a book that’s written in full journal form. It seems more personal. But this book was just…good. The best book(s) I’ve read in journal form is the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty.
But I’m not going to compare the two.
This is about a girl who has become lost and depressed since the death of her older sister, Emily. After going to therapy, her therapist suggests taking to keeping a journal. Throughout the journal we slowly get bits and pieces as to how her sister died. I will say I didn’t expect it. At all. It’s sad, and the way that she tells about that day is definitely sad and heartbreaking—didn’t bring me to tears—but I felt her emotion and pain.
I did enjoy what little we got from the other characters in the book, especially Rosa-Leigh, I love the artsy, poem writing people in books…and she was Canadian. So of course in my mind, she had a serious Canadian accent, eh. I do wish we got to see more with her, but this is written in journal form. So it was Sophie recalling the day(s).
This book takes place in London, so, you know—everyone had a fantabulous accent. (And I may have pictured Robert Pattinson once or twice as a character—though he didn’t fit.)
I can’t really get too much into this book, because I read it awhile ago and don’t completely remember everything. But I do recommend you give it a quick read. I like Alice Kuipers writing style and will most likely be reading her other book, Life on the Refrigerator. I have to say I like that title.J
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