Jessica Kara

Three stars but -so close- in some ways to four, and I did ultimately bump it up to four. I do not recommend reading this in one sitting. I did not want to review this book because my emotions--I don't know how to describe them. I blubbered my way through chapter twenty, and it earned several stars from me. I needed to read this book, especially at this point in my life. It's been a decade since three people died of complications due to horrible diseases. Each death was sudden and tragic. Those who survived the deceased did not discuss the deaths after the funerals. The next paragraph of my review was removed because I don't want to get personal.
I felt like I understood Gage. I have never experienced the level of tragedy and trauma that he has been through. But the book showed me "your emotions are here, Zev. You are here."
Him working all the time--I felt like there was no real reason given. The book got repetitive at parts. It isn't until the seventy percent mark that it's revealed Gage isn't getting therapy because it isn't in his worldview. That needed to be revealed and explored much earlier. The book wraps it up too neatly. The family's grief wasn't explored. Instead, everyone tiptoed around Gage and nobody talked about it. Probably because they didn't know how. It would have been interesting character development if they had tried. Having Justine be that character--well, I'm not sure who else the author would have picked. It just felt a little weird. The characters weren't too well-developed except for Gage. Sigh.

There were many charming moments in this book! Some were so wholesome and heartwarming. I -adored- Jack, Gage's stepdad. Gage's bio-dad could have easily been cut and nothing would have changed. He could have been totally off-page and several mentions of his lack of involvement and no child support payments would have been good. Gage couldn't bring himself to talk about a lot of stuff with his family, and I related to that. It could have been an arc in and of itself, and he could have blown up at someone else besides Justine. But the story did work. I wanted to hear more about the family's relationships to Hunter and how they were processing their loss or not, but this book is all about Gage.
I don't plan to reread this, but I hope to recommend it heavily. I'm so glad it was written and that I got to read it.… (mehr)