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A review by inwonderland49
What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi
4.0
This book is an emotional and heart-wrenching story that I loved. Jessica Verdi brings us this story about a seventeen year old, Ryden Brooks and how he is now the father of a newborn baby. Oh and this baby, no longer has a mother. She died from cancer. So Jessica Verdi tells us this story about Ryden who is trying to do best by Hope (his baby) and who is trying to do what Meg (his dead girlfriend) would have wanted him to do.
Ryden goes through a lot of changes within this book. The loss of his girlfriend, the birth of his baby, his soccer career, his dream school, etc. There is a lot on Ryden's plate and he has to somehow fit it all in. Throughout this book, Ryden goes on a journey trying to find journals that Meg left behind. He also goes through a journey on how he grows.
As much as I loved this book. I could not give it a full 5 stars because there was just one thing missing. More father/daughter time. We don't see much of it. And there are times where it is a little depressing that he doesn't want to tell this girl that he has a daughter. I mean, I get it. Sometimes, you just need one outlet where no one really knows who you are and you can just be yourself. But it really bothered me.
But even with that complaint. I still loved this book. It was different. We hardly ever get teenage pregnancies from the father's viewpoint and I loved that. The narration is beautiful and raw. And I loved how Meg had this presence throughout the book without being physically there. I mean yes, she was physically there in the flashbacks. But the reader knows that she's not really there anymore. And it's just this beautifully poignant story that you won't be sorry for reading.
Ryden goes through a lot of changes within this book. The loss of his girlfriend, the birth of his baby, his soccer career, his dream school, etc. There is a lot on Ryden's plate and he has to somehow fit it all in. Throughout this book, Ryden goes on a journey trying to find journals that Meg left behind. He also goes through a journey on how he grows.
As much as I loved this book. I could not give it a full 5 stars because there was just one thing missing. More father/daughter time. We don't see much of it. And there are times where it is a little depressing that he doesn't want to tell this girl that he has a daughter. I mean, I get it. Sometimes, you just need one outlet where no one really knows who you are and you can just be yourself. But it really bothered me.
But even with that complaint. I still loved this book. It was different. We hardly ever get teenage pregnancies from the father's viewpoint and I loved that. The narration is beautiful and raw. And I loved how Meg had this presence throughout the book without being physically there. I mean yes, she was physically there in the flashbacks. But the reader knows that she's not really there anymore. And it's just this beautifully poignant story that you won't be sorry for reading.