I’ll admit it; when I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a typical teen romance where a girl (Ella) falls in love with her best friend’s guy. This is complicated by the fact that her best friend recently died in a car accident during which Ella was driving. And yes, it IS that. But it’s also so much more.
I did enjoy the romance. Both Ella and Sawyer were realistic teenage characters, and each was provided with a detailed background/family history, as well as a distinct personality. I absolutely believed the attraction, plus the growing feelings as both teens tried to cope with Hayley’s death. They both felt guilty about the attraction, given their mutual relationship to Hayley, but were both powerless to fight it.
Things got dicey when Sawyer started exhibiting some control-freak tendencies towards Ella. That’s when I thought I had everything figured out and knew exactly where the story was going. I won’t share those thoughts, as I was COMPLETELY WRONG, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
Suffice it to say, this book provides a nice, refreshing love story. It also provides a dark look at physical abuse and its after-effects, and a bit of mystery as the reader gradually learns more about what really happened the night Hayley died. (Ella was also injured in the accident, and doesn’t remember anything at first, so we find answers along with her.)
In the end, I was satisfied with the conclusion, and enjoyed imagining what the future looked like for the characters after the end of the story.
Five slices of sharp cheddar-jack!
