Review Detail

First Impressions: From time to time, I like to take on a book that has a heart-wrenching story line like this one. It reminds me that every day shouldn’t be taken for granted. It is also nice to read a story that doesn’t involve the paranormal and stays true to real life. I really liked the premise of this book. It reminded me a bit like Juno, which I absolutely fell in love with. I was excited to read a book by this author since I’ve never read any of her other books before this one.

First 50 Pages: Have you ever read a story that you felt completely absorbed in? As soon as I started to read this book I felt like everything else around me was no longer there. It made me forget anything and everything except for what I was reading on the page. I was completely immersed into this story. It’s hard to even describe just how much I was sucked into the world and the writing. How to Save a Life is one of those life-changing stories. It stays with you long after you have finished reading it. I’m not sure if I can give this book a review that will do it justice. It’s just that good!

Style of Writing: I want to focus on Sara Zarr’s style of writing for a moment. She has a unique quality of heaviness and emotion. She puts an immense amount of feeling into her writing that you can’t find in too many Young Adult novels lately. Her words make her characters uncharacteristically human-like. They could walk right off the page and be human, that is how real she makes everything feel. Everyone can relate to this story, even if you have never experienced what her characters have gone through for yourself, which I never have and I hope nobody else ever has to. I love author’s who can deal with the heavier issues of life. Not every writer can or is will to try. Sara Zarr is a darn good author!

Characters: The story follows Jill and Mandy with inter-loping POV’s. These are unforgettable characters with a great supporting cast. Like the synopsis states, Jill is still grieving for her father and her mother is, I guess, trying to fill in the huge gap he had left behind by adopting a new baby. Jill is memorable character because she is completely mean, rude, and basically a huge jerk. I can honestly think of a better word to call her, but I’ll try to be nice. Jill on the other hand, is not as nice as I am. She has her own excuses for the way that she acts, but honestly, there was no good reason for her to act the way she did in the story.

Mandy is unpleasant. That is best I can describe her. She made me feel like she was hiding something and she came across as being very manipulative. It’s hard to say much about Mandy without giving away too many spoilers. Let’s just say, there is more than meets the eye with this particular character.

Final Thoughts: I was blown away by this novel! I really need to go back and read more from this author and I can’t wait to read whatever she comes out with next. The ending was predictable, but that doesn’t even matter with this story. Sara did an outstanding job pulling the story off just right with her incredible characters and her unusually talented writing skills. I definitely would recommend picking this one up the next time you are looking for an emotional read!