How to Save a Life

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I didn't find this story to be extremely powerful or intense, in fact there were many parts where my mind drifted in boredom, but overall it was a decent story with well written, relatable characters. I don't know what I'm missing here that everyone else adores so much of this book. I liked it, but everyone else seems to LOVE it. There were so many aspects of life that this book discussed and in such an integrating manner. Love, life, friendship, growth. So many different types of love were represented as well. From mother to daughter, daughter to father, girl to boy, sibling to sibling, it was all done to effortlessly and I really appreciated that. No, me ne sono occupata io.» Le guance le sono diventate di un rosso vivo, ora. «Non si tratta di un bacio vero, ma solo di trasferire aria dai miei polmoni ai tuoi attraverso la mia…» esita, «be’, la mia bocca.» Eighteen-year-old Kerry has had a crush on Joel for years, but knows he's out of her league. Then something extraordinary happens: minutes before midnight on the eve of the millennium, Joel collapses and Kerry saves his life. How To Save A Life weaves together the dual narration of Jill, grieving for her father, and Mandy, a pregnant teen seeking a better life for her unborn child. Their lives converge when Jill’s mother makes the decision to adopt a child – with life changing repercussions for all involved.

An enthralling epic that swept me along through the highs and lows. I feel I’ve lived three different but tightly intertwined lives' This book is not a "heartfelt love story" as the blurb wants you to believe. It's a depressing book about destructive people that do not deserve a book being written about them. Kerry and Tim have been best friends since they first met and both are planning on being doctors. Joel is the up and coming football star. Although they go to the same school, they don't run in the same circles.I was hooked from the first chapter. I barely stopped myself from rushing to the ending. I seriously couldn't stop reading it. I didn't feel, to me, like a work of fiction at all! It was more like reading a memoir. I'm just in awe of the AMAZING character development, and the writing, that was SO fluid it felt like it was written by 3 different people. You know, how there are 2 types of books. The first type are the ones that don't leave such an impression on you. They just pass by you without marking their presence and you move on with your life with no alterations on your part.

As Kerry supports Joel through his recovery, they discover a connection neither of them anticipated – until, haunted by what might have been, he abruptly ends their relationship. While these two girls, vivid protagonists whose lives seem so real, are the heart of How to Save a Life, so many other aspects made me appreciate it as well. First and foremost, it must be noted that I fell hard for the romance in this novel. For some reason, grief and romance go so well together - not entirely sure why - but for the first time, I think I understood. Jill's grief makes her closed off to others, but one boy in particular is able to understand her and look at her, not with sympathy or pity, but with empathy. With him, Jill is able to confront her past ghosts and come to terms with her father's death, along with the new change in her life that includes Mandy and a baby - one who will be Jill's younger sister or brother. One of the reasons this romance is so strong is because it is built upon conversation. Here are two people who meet and meet and meet again, doing nothing but talking and pouring their hearts out to one another, and that makes it perfect. Furthermore, their ending is open and ambiguous, but that's what makes it oh-so-perfect. It was flawed, but most importantly, it was real and never contrived or forced. It is, hands down, one of my favorite literary romances of all time. And I can assure you, I never expected to find that in this book, but the fact that I did spoke volumes.

What Zarr is best as is character development. Both protagonists in this novel are fairly unlikable. This book gripped me from the minute I read the first line, it lost me a bit in the middle but hooked me in again towards the end.

The ladies. The gentlemen. Train stations. Raw. Emotional. Coffee. Pancakes. Pho. Old friends. New friends. Moving on. Siblings. Cornfields, Ferris wheels and stars.Intendi il bacio della vita?» Un pensiero orribile mi attraversa la mente. «Tim mi ha fatto la respirazione bocca a bocca?»

This isn’t really a low point but I couldn’t really think of one so I’m clutching right now. The ending was a little predictable but I think I would have been angry/upset if it hadn’t ended like that.

Featured Reviews

I don't remember how I ended up buying this book. And it's been almost a year sitting on my to-read shelf. So when I decided to finally read this book, I was so glad that it wasn't a let down at all. Jill's first line hooked me already and it went enjoyable all along.