REVIEW: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Name: Saving June

Author: Hannah Harrington

Publisher: Mira Ink

Release date: June 1st 2012

Pages: 336 

Source:  For review from publisher (via Net Galley)

Rating: 5 stars

Your sister is dead. Nineteen songs can tell you why. Only one boy can help you understand.
Harper Scott's older sister, June, took her own life a week before high school graduation, leaving Harper devastated. So when her divorcing parents decide to split up June's ashes, Harper steals the urn and takes off cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going-California.
Enter Jake Tolan, a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession...and an unknown connection to June. 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 Harper needs. Except...Jake's keeping a secret that has the power to turn her life upside down again.

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Beverley's Review

Saving June is an achingly beautiful novel of a girl desperate to piece together the broken fragments of her life.  Her sister's sudden suicide leaves her with an endless list of unanswered questions: Did she really know June?  Could she have stopped it?

The questions and grief and not knowing what to do next lead her to Jake, a mysterious boy whose nature of connection with June is unknown.  With her best friend, Laney, they take off on a summer road-trip in a bid to scatter June's ashes in California, a place she dreamed of visiting before her death.

Saving June is definitely not a light-hearted read, it is heart-wrenching and tear-inducing.  It will take you on an emotional rollercoaster filled with love, loss, friendship and grief.  The best part of the book, for me, was the powerful emotions conveyed in each page.  Hannah Harrington writes sensitively yet realistically and deals with the topic of suicide wonderfully.  Her writing completely overwhelmed me and there were parts where I just felt choked; I was amazed by her ability to describe the pain and angst so vividly.

Therefore, sympathising with the characters wasn't difficult.  Harper is a likeable character with whom I empathised from the start.  I came to understand her grief and how hard life was for her and I wanted so desperately for her to find closure.  Thankfully, she had the most amazing best friend by her side.  Laney is one of those friends people spend their whole lives wishing for.  Her selfless, caring personality filled me with such admiration for her as a person.

The road trip had it highs and lows and they had some pretty crazy encounters.  What I loved was that Jake really grew on me as the journey progressed. Both Harper and I learnt more about him and I came to appreciate his honest, sensitive side.  Unfortunately he didn't make my list of potential book boyfriends but this is only because he's the sort of guy who would make a better friend, someone who will listen and lend you a shoulder to cry on.

Throw in loveable characters, witty narration, a wild road trip and buckets of emotion and you get Saving June.  It has all the elements of an enjoyable read, plus more.  Hannah Harrington has crafted such a heart-breakingly raw story out of something so devastating and life-shattering: a novel which has made my Favourite Contemporaries of the Year list.  Saving June will make you think and most importantly, help you realise that you shouldn't take your loved ones for granted.

5 teacups for Saving June!

*Thanks to Mira Ink for providing me with an e-copy via Netgalley*