Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Title: Saving June

Author: Hannah Harrington

Series: Standalone

Release Date: May 1, 2011

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Format: Kindle Book

Source: Amazon

Add it: Goodreads

Rating: 5/5

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 demeanor 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 (summary via goodreads.com)

To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It seems like lately there have been a lot of books about the aftershock of a siblings death. The plot is basic, but the way it’s played out is incredible. I can honestly say that this book was amazing. Plus it’s a road trip book, and who doesn’t love one of those?!

Truthfully, I rarely every get emotional with a book. I find it hard to connect with the characters in books because more often then not they just appear to be too perfect. With this book I didn’t have that problem. The three main characters Harper, Laney, and Jake were surprisingly believable. Harper was like any girl who lives in the shadow of their older sister, and just doesn’t realize how amazing she truly is. Laney’s the best friend everyone has. The one you don’t even have to talk to, yet you know what each other are thinking. Then there’s Jake. Jake wasn’t just that typical mysterious guy. Not only did he have a very in depth personality, but he was a classic music fan!

This book truly moved me. It had me setting it down, and thinking about all of the things that could be going on in my siblings lives. Hannah Harrington’s descriptive writing was amazing, she never over did any of it, so it was genuine the whole time. I loved the fact that the story wasn’t sad the whole time. Actually it was never really sad, it was just well written. Anyways my point was that the author matched the emotional scenes with the funny ones. Also there was not any short of romance in this story. Jake was one of those YA guys that you swoon for.

Another part of this book that I loved was the music. I loved the way the music from the book helped me understand what June was going through before she took her life. If you’re a fan of music and amazing books I recommend reading this book.

The only thing that I didn't like about this book was that I felt the characters were lacking descriptions. Not on their personalities, but on the way they looked. I usually don't have trouble picturing characters but with this book I did. I think that their personalities made up for the lack of physical description though.