Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

The Deal: Following the suicide of her perfect older sister June, Harper is left feeling numb and unable to cry or make sense of what happened to June to make her do what she did. With her mother drinking more than she should and her aunt moving in, Harper just wants to make a break from it all and maybe find answers about June.

And when her parents decide they are going to split June's ashes, Harper decides she has had enough, so she convinces her best friend Laney to drive across the country with her, all the way to California to scatter her ashes there.

California was June's golden dream and Haper feels like she owes her sister going there, even if that means letting Jake Tolan tag along. Jake knew June during her last few months of life, as she tutored him at school and, according to Jake, she was the first person to ever believe or expect something from him, so her death shook him hard.

So, Jake, Laney and Harper set out to California, to finally take June to the place of her dreams.

My Thoughts: Saving June was an interesting experience. I started it about three times before I could read it through as I found the beginning of the book a little slow and I got easily distracted. But once the book hit it's stride it was a lot better as I really enjoyed following Laney, Harper and Jake going on a road trip.

But I found the reveal of things to be very slow, and I didn't actually like Harper much in the beginning, particularly after she acknowledges that a lot of what she is is because she made a point of being the opposite of June.

But I liked Laney and Jake - even if I wished his character would have been explored more from the start, and I really liked that his relationship with June wasn't the obvious one. - and the whole road trip experience.

All in all, I thought it was well written and interesting, but I don't see myself re-reading it any time soon as I tend to like more lighthearted reads.

Favorite Quote: "The best thing about her is that she thinks I'm awesome, too. It's harder than you think, to find someone who truly believes in your unequivocal, unconditional awesomeness, especially when you're like me: unspectacular in every way." 

1/2