Author: Leah Scheier
Release date: September 1, 2015
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
April is devastated when her best friend transfers to another school, so when the new kid starts asking to hang out with her she's thrilled! Jonah is so different from the others and they soon become more than friends. Not long into their relationship, Jonah starts to say and do things that are a bit dark, or off. April knows he has some sort of trauma in his past but doesn't want to press him about it. April will do anything to protect Jonah, even if it's from himself.
My thoughts: This was a tragic, but also hopeful story about mental illness in a teenager that really needs to be told. There is so much mystery and shame wrapped around mental illness in our society. Scheier pours out this story through her young characters in a way that felt very real for their age.
April is a bit of an outsider who doesn't make close friends easily, and when her bff transfers to a private school she's adrift in the river of public school without her. So when she and Jonah hit it off she's thrilled. Then when they get even closer, she's excited to explore this uncharted territory of her first serious boyfriend. It's just that it ends up not being exactly how she thought it would be...
The problem? Everyone seems to not understand how much she likes Jonah, OR they do understand but they are scared by it for some reason. Do they think she's too young to be this serious? Maybe. Do they sense that there's something off? I think they do, but it's not at all what everyone else thinks. April seems to know rather early on, but she really wants to save him herself. She has a very hard time telling others what she fears about Jonah since he doesn't seem to be violent in any way...at least in the beginning. Later there are a few things that are scary.
I haven't read another book like this one for teens and I'm very excited to buy it for our high school library because of that. I'm also excited about it because the story is so well done for them as well. You may not be happy with the end, but by the time you get there you are ready for it. This one is a must read! And, seriously...Sourcebooks keeps hitting them out of the park for me! Woot! Woot!
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