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A review by poppyjessica
Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka
4.0
As a secondary school teacher, I am always a lover of reading YA fiction to find the new voices out there to recommend to my students. Even as an adult, I found myself devouring Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka's writing in this book: I am thrilled I have found this pair to read more of their work and recommend the books to my students.
I waited a couple of days after finishing the text to write this review as I was frustrated by the abrupt ending - I didn't want this to mar my thoughts about the rest of the text as I did enjoy the majority of the text. The best part of the journey in this book for me wasn't the developing relationship between Fitz and Juniper, even though I appreciate the central focus is meant to be their impact on each other's lives. It was in their individual moments of introspection I fell for these characters the most, particularly appreciating how they didn't shy away from exploring the emotional angst surrounding Fitz's mother's diagnosis. I most rooted for the developing relationship between adopted brothers Fitz and Lewis; how they both supported, and didn't support, each other finally reaching honesty was my favourite moment in the text.
In a similar way, Juniper's grapple with how to cope with a large very involved family, and the impending separation due to college, was interesting. I have seen other reviews bemoan how quickly she manages to move on from her previous relationship. To the contrary, there is emotional truth here: Juniper is a 17 year old girl in the heady heights of her first love story. She is right to know that college will change her and her relationship irreversibly, something I witnessed time and again at university myself. It may not be the fairytale that readers would prefer to read but it rings true.
Overall, I have given this book four stars, removing one for my frustration at the ending. This is a truthful exploration of a turning point in the lives of these characters and gave me a lot to think about, even though university is a few years behind me myself!
I waited a couple of days after finishing the text to write this review as I was frustrated by the abrupt ending - I didn't want this to mar my thoughts about the rest of the text as I did enjoy the majority of the text. The best part of the journey in this book for me wasn't the developing relationship between Fitz and Juniper, even though I appreciate the central focus is meant to be their impact on each other's lives. It was in their individual moments of introspection I fell for these characters the most, particularly appreciating how they didn't shy away from exploring the emotional angst surrounding Fitz's mother's diagnosis. I most rooted for the developing relationship between adopted brothers Fitz and Lewis; how they both supported, and didn't support, each other finally reaching honesty was my favourite moment in the text.
In a similar way, Juniper's grapple with how to cope with a large very involved family, and the impending separation due to college, was interesting. I have seen other reviews bemoan how quickly she manages to move on from her previous relationship. To the contrary, there is emotional truth here: Juniper is a 17 year old girl in the heady heights of her first love story. She is right to know that college will change her and her relationship irreversibly, something I witnessed time and again at university myself. It may not be the fairytale that readers would prefer to read but it rings true.
Overall, I have given this book four stars, removing one for my frustration at the ending. This is a truthful exploration of a turning point in the lives of these characters and gave me a lot to think about, even though university is a few years behind me myself!