A review by lilmooniex
Hale by K Webster

challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Spoiler filled summary / review: 

Hale's in a long distance relationship with Amy but is giving off average fuckboy vibes. He had already cheated on Amy by making out with Jada the bartender before his guilt started to kick in. Rylie got ahold of Hale's coach, coach had to let him know that their parents were killed in a head on collision. Hudson aka Hale seems to think is sister Rylie is just completely the fuck up while he's the golden boy - their dynamic is settled into it, they both know. Their parents died on their way to their anniversary dinner - Rylie wanted to come so she would have died with them. Hale eventually gives into his fuckboy tendencies and lets Jada suck him off, rationalizing it by saying Amy doesn't like doing it anymore. Amy's late and Rylie's been staying at Aunt Becky's and is making her life hell, smoking weed and arguing with her. Rylie saw Amy picking up a pregnancy test and called her selfish and told her she should end the pregnancy. Rylie is bipolar and took all her medicine her aunt was trying to shove down her throat - her parents would have hates the pill approach being holistic. Amy isn't pregnant thankfully! Hales is used to protecting Rylie even when it comes to teachers abusing their power. Hales is finally trying to understand Rylie and how her brain works after her suicide attempt, feeling extra protectiveness over her. Aunt Becky now gives Rylie her pills. Rylie pleasured herself to thoughts of her brother. She's "sick" in love with brother. Rylie touched herself while on the phone with Hale, shit. The kinks going crazy in this one lol. Amy pushed Hale to see her so the time Rylie thought they would be alone they weren't and she ended up crying into him for the millionth time this book. The darkness of the basement makes Hale feel free, he forgets that it's his sister and just feels her comfort, her body, her words. They smeared sunscreen on eachother and Hale was getting hard. Hudson kissed Rylie. Hale is gaslighting Amy for not wanting Rylie around, but he's slowing pushing Amy away. Since Rylie isn't allowed to shave Hale volunteers to shave her. Amy invites them to a block party and they end up ditching her and dry humping in the park. Aunt Becky is suspicious of Hales and Rylie and kicks him out after the shaving incident. (The practically almost had sex but were interrupted.) They finally gave in and had sex and it was HOT. The buildup was so worth it. Hudson got kicked off the baseball team for his poor performance and fired by coach's wife because of where his head has been. Hudson cares more about Rylie than anything - he's consumed by the sickness and no longer can focus on much else. Nick, Hudson's roommate is suspicious and disgusted by their relationship after walking in on them being overly friendly. There's no cure for their love, they just keep getting sicker. Aunt Becky caught them in the act - they weren't being discrete at all they deserved it LOL. Aunt Beck and Huds got into a fight and it made him and his uncle get into a physical altercation because he was protecting her. Aunt Becky calls the police and he's sent to jail, only spending less than a night there because Uncle Randy ended up bailing him out. Rylie tried to slit her wrist to kill herself again now the aunt and uncle want him to come down to the hospital. I gotta say that I hate Aunt Becky did a 180 after Rylie's suicide attempt, I get being more accepting but Aunt Becky always treated Hudson like a stranger than family now all of a sudden she's gonna miss him ? DOUBT. But she for sure still isn't condoning it but they deny deny deny. No one has to know their secret. They ended up buying fake ID's, fake social security cards, and a fake birth certificate from Travis and began their new lives as married couples - getting hitched (il)legally. Only Rylie changed her name to Heather! I'm sure Aunt Becky still knows but they continue to deny deny deny, they now have 3 kids but blame it on poor Travis still for knocking her up and just being a deadbeat. The story is they call Hudson daddy so they don't know Travis is a bad dad. It ends happily ever after.
 

Final thoughts: 

This was another beautiful story by the amazing K. Webster! I swear all the books I've read by them have been hauntingly beautiful and well written. Even when they're a little different. Favorite quote: “I’m sick and you’ve caught the sickness too.”
“I’ll be fine, Ry. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m worried it’s going to kill me, though.”