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kaylamint's review against another edition
4.0
Rounding up from 3.5
I read this in one evening. It's short and bittersweet.
I read this in one evening. It's short and bittersweet.
shsutherly's review against another edition
3.0
It was fine for a YA book. ;-)
I wanted to read it because I read all of the Lurlene McDaniels books in the 90's and LOVED them.
I wanted to read it because I read all of the Lurlene McDaniels books in the 90's and LOVED them.
sara_orioles's review against another edition
3.0
A cute story about a girl who passes away in an accident and her heart is given to someone else and the girl who receives the heart starts to act like the girl whose heart she has.
jgurniak's review
4.0
I haven't read Lurlene McDaniel in a.few years, I'd forgotten how heartbreaking her books can be!
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Arabeth doesn’t have a best friend, or really any friends. An Army brat whose father died in Afghanistan, she has always moved from place to place, and her diseased heart has isolated her from other children. At fourteen she should be looking forward to high school, but she is confined to her room, tethered to oxygen. Not far away in another Atlanta suburb, Kassey and Elowyn are best friends. Kassey vacations with Elowyn and her parents, they attend the same school, are both on the varsity volleyball team, and when Elowyn gets a car for her 16th birthday, she gives Kassey the extra set of keys. They share everything … or almost everything. Because Elowyn never tells Kassey she checked the organ donor box on her driver’s license.
This is a simply told story of three girls and how their lives intersect as a result of tragedy. It’s pretty predictable and contains the usual teen drama (first boyfriend, first kiss, first fight, first breakup, etc). I do like that McDaniel portrayed the teens fairly realistically – they were sometimes mean or thoughtless, lacked judgment, worried about what others thought, wanted to be popular, obsessed over “the cute guy,” jumped to conclusions, fought and made-up in the space of a few minutes. She also showed the adults as being caring but enforcing rules (and the teens sometimes ignoring the guidance given). I really hated the names; even my spell-checker didn’t like any of them. One would think there are no longer any kids named Mary or Sam.
One glaring misstatement made me judge the book rather harshly; a cardiologist does NOT perform transplant surgery, a cardiovascular surgeon DOES perform the transplant. But I reminded myself that this is a young-adult novel and tried to judge it based on the intended audience. I think my 13-year-old niece would enjoy the book. It’s a fast read and it fulfilled a couple of challenges for me.
This is a simply told story of three girls and how their lives intersect as a result of tragedy. It’s pretty predictable and contains the usual teen drama (first boyfriend, first kiss, first fight, first breakup, etc). I do like that McDaniel portrayed the teens fairly realistically – they were sometimes mean or thoughtless, lacked judgment, worried about what others thought, wanted to be popular, obsessed over “the cute guy,” jumped to conclusions, fought and made-up in the space of a few minutes. She also showed the adults as being caring but enforcing rules (and the teens sometimes ignoring the guidance given). I really hated the names; even my spell-checker didn’t like any of them. One would think there are no longer any kids named Mary or Sam.
One glaring misstatement made me judge the book rather harshly; a cardiologist does NOT perform transplant surgery, a cardiovascular surgeon DOES perform the transplant. But I reminded myself that this is a young-adult novel and tried to judge it based on the intended audience. I think my 13-year-old niece would enjoy the book. It’s a fast read and it fulfilled a couple of challenges for me.
lindseyembry33's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really good book that explored medical questions that we can't answer still today. The main character receives a heart transplant and begins to feel and "remember" things that did not happen to her. Its an interesting read about the miracle of the bodies we have and how people learn to deal with what they have.
nklosty's review against another edition
4.0
This novel made me think about how lucky I am to have such a healthy life. It also crossed my mind how difficult it must be to lose someone important to you and have to make a decision about organ donation. I certainly would want to save someone's life if I was able to do so.
I enjoyed the book and am glad I read it.
I enjoyed the book and am glad I read it.
lauraew333's review against another edition
3.0
I'm actually giving this one a 3.5 for one reason in particular - it didn't really have... substance. Yes, it was so touching and made me cry and was a beautiful story about love and loss and redemption and healing but it just didn't have any luster. I have to say, I love reading Lurlene McDaniel's writing but I don't know, this one just didn't click right with me. By all means read it! It's a good book and will get you thinking about the important things in your life. I just didn't find it that outstanding.
3.5 stars.
3.5 stars.