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Review: Notes to Self (Avery Sawyer)

Title: Notes to Self
Author: Avery Sawyer
Genre: YA fiction
Pages: 103 pdf pages
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Challenges
FTC Disclosure: I received this from the author for review
Summary (from Amazon): Two climbed up. Two fell down. One woke up.

Robin Saunders is a high school sophomore with an awesome best friend, a hard-working single mom, and a completed relationship with a sweet guy name Reno. She's coasting along, trying to get through yet another tedious year of high school, when Em suggests something daring. They live in Florida--tourist central--and Emily wants to sneak into a theme park after midnight and see what they're made of. When things get out of control, Robin wakes up in a hospital bed and Emily doesn't wake up at all. Just getting dressed becomes an ordeal as Robin tries to heal and piece together  the details of that terrible night. Racing to remember everything in the hopes of saving Emily, Robin writes a series of notes to herself to discover the truth.

Review: I started this book while I was on vacation in Florida and finished it on the plane home. It really made the flight go quickly as I cruised my way through this captivating story. What actually happened to Robin and Emily is slowly revealed as Robin tries to remember the night she and Emily climbed the maintenance ladder of a local roller coaster. They are fifteen years old and, of course, don't see the consequences of their actions, in fact, it never occurred to them that something could go horribly wrong.

As Robin tries to figure out what she and Emily were doing and why, she takes the time to step back from her current life and reevaluate who she is, her relationships with others (her missing father, her hard-working mother, her best friend, Reno, and others). This introspection seems very appropriate as does the way that others treat Robin, from her mother (supportive and scared), to the social workers and the kids at school (they seem freaked out by the whole thing and blame her for Emily's coma).

I was pulled into Robin's world from the beginning, fascinated by her recovery process, her emotional journey, and the impact one moment can have on all those around us.
Geography Connection

Click to see my updated Google Map. I was in Florida and read a book set in Florida, kinda' cool. But, the location didn't really matter all that much.

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