A review by littlemissbookworm
All We Can Do Is Wait by Richard Lawson

3.0

"All We Can Do Is Wait" tells the heart-breaking story of a tragic accident and its aftermath.

One moment there was a bridge spanning the river and the next, there wasn't. The news of the tragedy spreads like wildfire and worried Bostonians rush to the hospital to find out if their loved ones made it out alive. In their midst, there are Skyler, Jason, Alexa, Scott and Morgan - five teenagers who've never met before, but are united in their sorrow. Short of being a shoulder to cry on for each other, there's nothing they can do. All they can do is wait...

I really like the premise of this book and the prologue gripped me almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, Richard Lawson wasn't able to keep that level of suspense for very long. Don't get me wrong, "All We Can Do Is Wait" is a good book with a nerve-wracking plot, but the over-use of lengthy flashbacks slows it down quite a bit. Flashbacks in general are great in order to get to know the characters better, but shorter ones would have sufficed and not taken away from the suspense as much.
The characters themselves are diverse and interesting and I like that each of them has their own "voice".

I recommend this novel to teenagers as well as adults, who enjoy reading tragic stories à la "54 minutes" and "Girl Underwater".