Saving June by Hannah Harrington

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.

A dead sister. A cute, mysterious guy.  A road trip.  All great elements for a moving piece of young adult fiction. Hannah Harrington's Saving June was not a disappointment; it delivered exactly what I expected it would. The prose was easy and the dialogue flow between the characters kept me smiling. The tense arguments between Harper and Jake set the stage for some later hot, steamy scenes. The ending was bittersweet and brought tears to my eyes. I enjoyed it.


But. You knew it was coming right? The but. It wasn't that the story itself wasn't good, or that the characters didn't move me (Jake really moved me -haha). It's just that it didn't hit a WOW factor for me. Maybe it's because I've read too many stories like this and the plot is getting old. Or maybe it's because I'm not a diehard, knows every album in the world, music fan (there's a whole lot of music talk in it). Whatever it was, I just didn't feel like this story hit five stars for me. And that's okay. I don't expect every book to knock my socks off, and I did enjoy it. Like I said, it delivered exactly what I expected. I guess I was just kind of hoping it would exceed those expectations, that I'd be surprised by some plot element, amazed, and I wasn't. 


Overall, I recommend it, but there are other books with similar themes that I would shout about first. Opinions? Agree? Disagree? Love to hear your comments!