Published by Macmillan audio Genres: Contempory, Drama, Fiction, Romance
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Sisters, summers at the pool and one tragic night.
As the book begins, we see Sally Holt starting the eighth grade. Her older sister Kathy can finally say that Billy Barnes, who the sisters have been ogling all summer, is her boyfriend. Kathy is overjoyed and Sally is intrigued.
The book spans fifteen years as Sally tells the story of before, during, and after Kathy’s death. She not only addresses what she goes through, but what her parents and Billy experience as well. This is a book that looks at sisterhood, love, family, how the loss of someone affects your entire life, how sharing a bond/experience with someone brings you closer, loss, grief, and moving on.
This is not a happy-go-lucky book but an exploration of Sally’s experiences and how losing her sister affected her. It shows both shared and individual grief. But it is not all doom and gloom either. It shows Sally growing, Billy growing, it shows love and longing and resiliency.
This book had a lot of insight and is moving at times.
I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a good job but wondered if I would have enjoyed the book more had I read it. Either way, this book is moving and thought provoking.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.