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cschaepe84's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yeah...It's gonna take me a long time to recover from this.
Honestly, I didn't know what I was really getting into when I read this book, thinking it was going to be too much like [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], another great book about love and loss. However, it was very different. Yes, both had similar themes about living moment by moment and making those moments meaningful. Both also point out what it is to REALLY live and what is life but a collection of memories connected by love. But each captured me in different ways.
We start off with Kacey, a rock star who is miserable with life and blurring and numbing her existence with meaningless sex and alcohol. She has a troubled past, feels unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted by her parents, which is the heart of the problem, and does not know what it is to REALLY love. But she craves it, and in many ways, which are destructive, tries to reach for it.
Jonah, on other hand, is dying after a failed heart transplant. He is loved, and he has a lot of unfinished business to do, which makes it so hard for him to accept. He has a rigid routine going with only months left to live in order to finish his life's legacy, a glass sculpture and installation, and tries to stick with keeping everything exactly the same to avoid the panic and anxiety that comes with knowing he'll soon die. I really loved how Jonah describes his experience of dying like a lone man drifting away from shore on a little boat while his loved ones watch on, unable to do anything. It captured so well my own thoughts of death and dying, as well as the anxiety and panic of needing to do something to avoid thinking about the inevitable. His existence is drab, albeit self-induced, but it works for him, and he doesn't need any distractions to take him from the mission.
Until Kacey practically literally crashes into his life. Wild, reckless, spontaneous, and at times impulsive, Kacey is everything Jonah isn't, but turns out to be everything he needs. On a fateful night when she crashes out drunk on his couch, sad, desperate, and on the road to self-destruction, ready to throw her life away while Jonah is clinging to his. Yet, he is full of compassion for her, they talk, and a spark ignites between them that cannot be denied. While Jonah is challenged into splashing as much into his moments, breaking away from his routine by Kacey, Jonah shows Kacey what it is to stand still, savor life, and to be brave to go after what you really want in life.
One thing that resounded in me with this book that [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], didn't quite go into, is that any time is good time to accept and give love, to try new things, and to embrace existence in its entirety, whether that life has just begun, or is about to end. Kacey and Jonah knew their time together would be short, that tragedy was on the horizon, but chose love over fear, and healed one another.
This book was so beautiful, I cried to the very end. Considering the subject matter, it was also shockingly hopeful, and makes sit down and reflect on what it is to really live.
Honestly, I didn't know what I was really getting into when I read this book, thinking it was going to be too much like [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], another great book about love and loss. However, it was very different. Yes, both had similar themes about living moment by moment and making those moments meaningful. Both also point out what it is to REALLY live and what is life but a collection of memories connected by love. But each captured me in different ways.
We start off with Kacey, a rock star who is miserable with life and blurring and numbing her existence with meaningless sex and alcohol. She has a troubled past, feels unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted by her parents, which is the heart of the problem, and does not know what it is to REALLY love. But she craves it, and in many ways, which are destructive, tries to reach for it.
Jonah, on other hand, is dying after a failed heart transplant. He is loved, and he has a lot of unfinished business to do, which makes it so hard for him to accept. He has a rigid routine going with only months left to live in order to finish his life's legacy, a glass sculpture and installation, and tries to stick with keeping everything exactly the same to avoid the panic and anxiety that comes with knowing he'll soon die. I really loved how Jonah describes his experience of dying like a lone man drifting away from shore on a little boat while his loved ones watch on, unable to do anything. It captured so well my own thoughts of death and dying, as well as the anxiety and panic of needing to do something to avoid thinking about the inevitable. His existence is drab, albeit self-induced, but it works for him, and he doesn't need any distractions to take him from the mission.
Until Kacey practically literally crashes into his life. Wild, reckless, spontaneous, and at times impulsive, Kacey is everything Jonah isn't, but turns out to be everything he needs. On a fateful night when she crashes out drunk on his couch, sad, desperate, and on the road to self-destruction, ready to throw her life away while Jonah is clinging to his. Yet, he is full of compassion for her, they talk, and a spark ignites between them that cannot be denied. While Jonah is challenged into splashing as much into his moments, breaking away from his routine by Kacey, Jonah shows Kacey what it is to stand still, savor life, and to be brave to go after what you really want in life.
One thing that resounded in me with this book that [book:A Thousand Boy Kisses|25912358], didn't quite go into, is that any time is good time to accept and give love, to try new things, and to embrace existence in its entirety, whether that life has just begun, or is about to end. Kacey and Jonah knew their time together would be short, that tragedy was on the horizon, but chose love over fear, and healed one another.
This book was so beautiful, I cried to the very end. Considering the subject matter, it was also shockingly hopeful, and makes sit down and reflect on what it is to really live.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death and Chronic illness
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Cursing, Medical content, and Alcoholism
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