Saving June - Review

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Saving June was a good story, but I think it could have been much better. It just didn't have enough depth for me and I really didn't connect with the characters at all. Maybe because I am older and the characters were very immature. I especially never understood Harper. She was completely unrelatable to me.

The way all of the characters dealt with their pain and loss were were so diverse. Harper wasn't able to show any grief or shed any tears over her sister's death. And Harper couldn't be bothered to comfort her own mother when she was falling apart.

I have to give an honorable mention to Harper's selfishness. That was a huge part what propelled this story. It was Harper's selfishness that caused her to steal her sister's ashes and take them to California, because, well, going to California was her sister's dream. And because Harper knew her sister so well, she just had to do this for her. Only Harper didn't know her sister very well.

The music - there was lots of music in this book - was 99% stuff that I don't listen to. I guess Jake was supposed to be hip and cool because he was an obscure music junkie. I just wasn't feeling that part either. Analyzing lyrics and making them relevant whatever situation you are in isn't something I spend my time doing, so again I couldn't relate.

And Jake. I think he was mostly an asshole with a touch of 'depth'. You know, because of the whole music thing. He and Harper had a love hate relationship for most of the story, and their relationship just wasn't believable.

The whole roadtrip was disjointed and there were pointless side trips along the way. (On a personal note, calling The Gateway Arch 'the arch thingy' really pissed me off. Yes, I live in St. Louis. But I have never heard anyone, kid or adult, call it the arch thingy. Show some respect for a National Park. AND no mention of how awesome to photograph The Arch from underneath it. Because it really IS awesome.)

After finishing this book, I still don't know any more about June than I did when the book began. I don't know what it was that caused such unhappiness in her life. There were some hints along the way that were dropped. Remember the girl at the beach that was upset with Jake for bringing Harper around after..... what? And the hint about the same girl maybe 'liking' June.... no one ever mentioned these things again.

Saving June was not an engrossing read for me. It failed to grab my attention and draw me into the story. I see a lot of 5 star ratings, but this was just a 3 star read for me.

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