Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Title: Saving June

Author: Hannah Harrington
Series: Standalone
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harlequin
Date of Publication: 22nd November 2011
Source: netGalley
Synopsis from Goodreads: ‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

My Thoughts:
I wasn't really sure what I was expecting from this. Initially, I wasn't going to request it, because I had so much else to read, and because the synopsis didn't really grab me. But, after a couple of days and once people had started to read it and then post about it on Twitter, I knew that I had to request it because EVERYONE was saying that it was amazing, that they loved it, and that everyone should read it. So I requested it, got accepted for it, and now that I've read it, I'm very glad I did.

At first though, I didn't understand why people were so obsessed with it, and I didn't connect with the book or the characters very much at all. It was good, yes, and I liked it, but it was nothing special, in my opinion but I carried on with it because it wasn't awful. It wasn't until about half way through that the plot really started to grab me, and once I got to know the characters more and got a feel for who they were, I started to really enjoy it and I flew through the last third of the book.

The plot was interesting - it was basically a road trip book. I've not read many of these, and the ones I have read weren't amazing, so this was probably my favourite road trip book I've read so far. I liked how as the book went on more and more things began to happen, as the characters got to know each other better, just as it would have in real life if a couple of girls went on a huge road trip with a guy they'd only just met... That sounds really bad, but you know what I mean, right? ;)

The characters, for me, were great. Not the best they potentially could have been, but still, they were great. I really liked how they made me feel throughout the book, and even though I don't agree with quite a lot of what they did and I didn't like their attitudes, they felt very real to me, and they got me thinking. I thought quite a lot about what it must have been like for Harper to lose a sister, and it made me sad. Like, really, really sad. I don't cry at books, but my eyes watered during this one. Just imagining how someone could lose someone so close to them broke my heart. I haven't read a book that made me think like this for a rather long time...

I didn't like Jake though. He was full of attitude and throughout the whole book I couldn't make up my mind about him. Did he like Harper? Did anything go on between him and June? Why is he actually taking Laney and Harper to California? Is it really because of June? These questions and more where flying around in my head until the last 30 pages of the book, and it really annoyed me. I felt like screaming, 'JUST MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY! YOU'RE ANNOYING ME!' And then he did, and I hated it! That scene near the end, with him and Harper, oh my word, I hated it! I mean, she barely knows him... I'm sorry if I just spoilt it for you, but honestly, I hated it.

Overall though, there were some really good points and some points that I didn't enjoy so much. The beginning was slow and some of the ending scenes were not to my taste, but I really enjoyed the book and I would most definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of YA contemporaries that make you think, or if you're looking for something that you can really get stuck into that will really make you react in ways you didn't think you would (see previous paragraph ;P ). It was really great, and despite a lot of the things I've said I did enjoy it, so go and buy yourself a copy now!

My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #99