Three teenagers… two who are fixable, and one who is not. Two boys—one who has never known caring, but feels its loss; one who has had it, lost it, and wonders if it’s worth the pain—and a girl who knows both caring and loss and wants to show them both that it’s worth everything.

Casper is a larger than life character who manages to push her close friends away—an attempt to save them from the pain of her loss, but finds herself adrift and lonely until she makes a connection with two boys seemingly as lost as she. Her bravery in the face of her illness is inspiring and her determination to make Vince and Adam come to appreciate things she has taken for granted is heartbreaking and life-changing for them both.

A very poignant and emotionally charged story which takes us on a journey through the full gamut of human emotion. You experience despair, abandonment, connection, loss, debilitating grief, and finally hope and love. And as the author says, what happens next is life.

This book was very hard to read at times as I became emotionally engaged with the characters, but it is definitely worth all the tears. Tissues are recommended. #OMG

Three teenagers… two who are fixable, and one who is not. Two boys—one who has never known caring, but feels its loss; one who has had it, lost it, and wonders if it’s worth the pain—and a girl who knows both caring and loss and wants to show them both that it’s worth everything.

Casper is a larger than life character who manages to push her close friends away—an attempt to save them from the pain of her loss, but finds herself adrift and lonely until she makes a connection with two boys seemingly as lost as she. Her bravery in the face of her illness is inspiring and her determination to make Vince and Adam come to appreciate things she has taken for granted is heartbreaking and life-changing for them both.

A very poignant and emotionally charged story which takes us on a journey through the full gamut of human emotion. You experience despair, abandonment, connection, loss, debilitating grief, and finally hope and love. And as the author says, what happens next is life.

This book was very hard to read at times as I became emotionally engaged with the characters, but it is definitely worth all the tears. Tissues are recommended. #OMG

I received a copy from Netgalley.

A very moving novel. Wasn't sure what I was going to make of it, but I was surprised at how much I empathized with Vic. I loved his character. Such a sensible, (mostly) level headed boy. Always at the side lines, in the shadow of his much more popular best friend Brett. Vic was a really nice boy, and what happened to him was horrible.

He was the only boy at the party who looked after a drunk girl, got her some place safe and the next thing he knows....he's accused of rape. Mostly because he's the only one she remembers. He has a stutter that comes out when he's anxious, and the stutter is what the girl remembers. Vic's world is thrown into turmoil, but he handles it remarkably. He has is moments of breakdown, as would any one in that situation. Made even worse by his home life, which wasn't great to begin with.His relationship with his mother is distant at best, and watching her reaction to his situation was heartbreaking. Best friend Brett is the only one who believes him. His dad just happens to be a defense attorney too.

Relief comes in the form of Autumn, the best friend of the attacked girl. At first Autumn is like everyone else - doesn't believe him in the slightest. She blows up at Vic when all he wants to do is find out how Callie is doing. He's thoughtful enough to want to ask after the girl's well being, in spite of everything horrible happening to him. But things progress slowly and Vic and Autumn find themselves getting to know each other and determined to solve the crime themselves.

I loved Autumn. So fierce and loyal to her best friend, softer once she starts to get to know Vic better and their relationship progressive. Vic is delightfully sweet, he's convinced he doesn't deserve her (although he likes her a lot). He's inner monologue feelings go back and forth on everything and its fascinating to read about him working it all out. He's so refreshingly different a lot of YA male characters.

The mystery progresses, and while I had my suspects, to be fair I didn't actually guess who the real criminal was until right at the end.

 

Vic is hit with some tough family issues to deal with, filtered in throughout the novel as well. His relationship with his mother improves, slowly. A long way to go, but it was nice to see them actually deal with some of the issues raised in the novel.

It was certainly gritty and uncomfortable to read in parts. But all the same, very moving and realistic. Certainly an author I would read again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for approving my request to view the title.

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review. 

First let me say I am not giving this book a solid 5 rating because one of the characters has my name even though I think that is AMAZING!!! I am giving this book a solid 5 because it was good and I loved the mystery (even though it wasn't a big one) on who committed the crime.

This story does talk of rape so be warned it is not really graphic but I know with rape being mentioned some people need a trigger warning just in case.

Vic is a quiet and lonely boy his only friend is his best friend Brett. Brett watches out for him and since Brett is popular Vic is considered tolerable. When Brett gets invited to a party one night Vic is coming along even though he is okay with not going. This is where he meets Callie, the last thing Callie remembers is that Vic was there. 

When the police come by to question Vic he has no clue as to what happened after he left and his own mother doesn't believe him. How crappy is that right? Well we get an answer to that which was heartbreaking on its own. As the story goes on we meet a girl named Autumn she is Callie's best friend and she is determined to find out who raped her friend, with the help of Vic they finally get the answers they seek but what will happen when the truth is revealed? Even though Vic keeps his head down and isn't looking for trouble and stands by his innocence those in school don't believe him. They figured something like this would happen being as he is a loner and because of his dad. 

The plot is a good one the story pace is not super slow but it is in the middle of just going on along. We don't find out who did anything until towards the end and I could not believe I didn't think of this person. There is some romance that comes out in the book nothing that is too much it is like normal teenage things. 

The characters are well developed and you get to know them through how others perceive them and how they act. 

I want to read more by this author as I like her writing style and how she can draw you into a book. 

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