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raddreader 's review for:
How to Save a Life
by Emma Scott
3.5, rounding down to 3
”Thanks for saving me, Jo.”
I stopped, jolted by his choice of words. “I didn’t save you. You weren’t drowning.”
”True. But you didn’t know that.”
“He raised a hand to touch my cheek, his eyes full. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Synopsis:
Knowing she will never fit in, Jo is just trying to make it through the last few weeks of her senior year at yet another new school. Warned to stay away from the “freak”, Jo quickly discovers Evan might be the only good and decent person around. Their friendship blossoms into something more but even after all they’ve been through, life is not ready to throw them a well deserved lifeline.
- ”We exchanged looks, a commiseration; the girl with the scar and the boy with the freaky rep, and something shifted between us. An unspoken understanding that drew me closer to him without having moved an inch.”
- “You didn’t laugh at me or call me crazy. You believed me. Or maybe you didn’t, but you accepted me. And that had never happened to me before.”
My Thoughts: The following are my thoughts about this book:
General:
- Trigger warning: sexual abuse, domestic abuse (mostly off page)
- Setting: Planerville, Iowa. Population: 1,341
Characters:
Evan (high school senior):
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Evan: weird, loner, freak, mental case, beautiful, strong, silent type, likes to help people, good listener, scared, good and pure
* Something to know about Evan:
- Was left at a fire station when he was three. After bouncing around in foster homes for years, the Salinger’s adopted him when he was around fifteen. Two of his 3 adopted brothers hate him and are cruel to him
- Three years ago he had an experience at school that resulted in him being institutionalized
- He wants to be a firefighter someday
* A quote about Evan:
- “For all his hard angles and masculine ruggedness, there was some intangible softness about him too. I don’t know how or why I could possibly know this at first glance, but to me Evan looked like he’d spill the deepest secrets of his heart to the first person to show him any kindness.”
- “Whatever these dreams are, they come back to me in the moment, not before. I don’t wake up with them. They hover just out of sight, until the time comes for me to remember.”
Jo (high school senior):
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Jo: slut, tenacious, broken, desperate, weak, sad, ashamed, trapped, courageous, worn down, exhausted, strong, abused, scared
* Something to know about Jo:
- When Jo was 2 her father died serving in Afghanistan. When she was 13 her mother killed herself when Jo disfigured herself in an attempt to make her uncle stop sexually abusing her. ”I’d taken a three-inch long screw and carved that narrow trench myself. To stop my uncle’s thrice weekly nocturnal visits”
- Jo writes dark poetry “your poems are exquisite windows into the incidents of your past. The ferocity of them, the…” She fought for the right words. “The tenacity of your spirit. It’s all here. I felt everything you sought to make a reader feel with your words, and that is the hallmark—in my estimation—of great poetry.”
- Jo is very sexually active. It’s partly how she copes with her past abuse. “I wasn’t a victim. I got to say who and when and how much. Just like goddamn Pretty Woman.”
* A quote about Jo:
- “My mother’s death cleaved my life in half. The chasm left behind was so deep and wide, I couldn’t even see the shore of my past. Shrouded in black and gray mist, it was lost to me.”
- “I could’ve jumped into that chasm with my mother, but I chose to keep walking.
- I can’t say it always felt like the right choice.”
Story Thoughts:
- My heart hurt immediately for Jo. Can you even imagine the desperation someone must feel if they believe taking a screw to their face would be better than the hell they were experiencing. I was immediately rooting for Jo.
- Evan....the Safe Haven scene at the fire station. Gah. How sad for a sweet little boy
”Thanks for saving me, Jo.”
I stopped, jolted by his choice of words. “I didn’t save you. You weren’t drowning.”
”True. But you didn’t know that.”
“He raised a hand to touch my cheek, his eyes full. “I’ll always come back to you.”
Synopsis:
Knowing she will never fit in, Jo is just trying to make it through the last few weeks of her senior year at yet another new school. Warned to stay away from the “freak”, Jo quickly discovers Evan might be the only good and decent person around. Their friendship blossoms into something more but even after all they’ve been through, life is not ready to throw them a well deserved lifeline.
- ”We exchanged looks, a commiseration; the girl with the scar and the boy with the freaky rep, and something shifted between us. An unspoken understanding that drew me closer to him without having moved an inch.”
- “You didn’t laugh at me or call me crazy. You believed me. Or maybe you didn’t, but you accepted me. And that had never happened to me before.”
My Thoughts: The following are my thoughts about this book:
General:
- Trigger warning: sexual abuse, domestic abuse (mostly off page)
- Setting: Planerville, Iowa. Population: 1,341
Characters:
Evan (high school senior):
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Evan: weird, loner, freak, mental case, beautiful, strong, silent type, likes to help people, good listener, scared, good and pure
* Something to know about Evan:
- Was left at a fire station when he was three. After bouncing around in foster homes for years, the Salinger’s adopted him when he was around fifteen. Two of his 3 adopted brothers hate him and are cruel to him
- Three years ago he had an experience at school that resulted in him being institutionalized
- He wants to be a firefighter someday
* A quote about Evan:
- “For all his hard angles and masculine ruggedness, there was some intangible softness about him too. I don’t know how or why I could possibly know this at first glance, but to me Evan looked like he’d spill the deepest secrets of his heart to the first person to show him any kindness.”
- “Whatever these dreams are, they come back to me in the moment, not before. I don’t wake up with them. They hover just out of sight, until the time comes for me to remember.”
Jo (high school senior):
* The following words/phrases were used to describe Jo: slut, tenacious, broken, desperate, weak, sad, ashamed, trapped, courageous, worn down, exhausted, strong, abused, scared
* Something to know about Jo:
- When Jo was 2 her father died serving in Afghanistan. When she was 13 her mother killed herself when Jo disfigured herself in an attempt to make her uncle stop sexually abusing her. ”I’d taken a three-inch long screw and carved that narrow trench myself. To stop my uncle’s thrice weekly nocturnal visits”
- Jo writes dark poetry “your poems are exquisite windows into the incidents of your past. The ferocity of them, the…” She fought for the right words. “The tenacity of your spirit. It’s all here. I felt everything you sought to make a reader feel with your words, and that is the hallmark—in my estimation—of great poetry.”
- Jo is very sexually active. It’s partly how she copes with her past abuse. “I wasn’t a victim. I got to say who and when and how much. Just like goddamn Pretty Woman.”
* A quote about Jo:
- “My mother’s death cleaved my life in half. The chasm left behind was so deep and wide, I couldn’t even see the shore of my past. Shrouded in black and gray mist, it was lost to me.”
- “I could’ve jumped into that chasm with my mother, but I chose to keep walking.
- I can’t say it always felt like the right choice.”
Story Thoughts:
- My heart hurt immediately for Jo. Can you even imagine the desperation someone must feel if they believe taking a screw to their face would be better than the hell they were experiencing. I was immediately rooting for Jo.
- Evan....the Safe Haven scene at the fire station. Gah. How sad for a sweet little boy