About the Book
-
Author:
- Hilary T. Smith
- Genre:
- Contemporary
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Multiracial
Cover Story: Borrowed Ad
BFF Charm: Nay
Talky Talk: It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Bonus Factors: Music, Bike Riding, Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: It’s Not You, It’s Me
Cover Story: Borrowed Ad
I’m pretty sure they just slapped an old iPod ad onto a cityscape for this one…
The Deal
Kiri’s parents have just left for a six-week cruise, and her plans while they’re away include practicing for her upcoming piano competition, watering the azaleas, and convincing her best friend and bandmate Lukas that he’s in love with her. That’s before she gets a call from someone who claims to have known her sister — who died in a car accident five years ago — and that he has some of her sister’s stuff. Not understanding how this could be possible but unable to leave it alone, Kiri begins a journey that opens up wells of grief and self-discovery that spiral her carefully constructed life out of control.
BFF Charm: Nay
From the moment her sister died, Kiri became the GOOD daughter. Her life developed into one long series of rehearsals and successes. Sure, she smoked pot with Lukas in the basement before band practice, but in every other respect, she was the perfect, accomplished, driven, serious teenager. What begins as a trickle, a small leak in the dam she’s crafted around her emotions, slowly develops into a full-on manic torrent, and if I’m honest, it was hard for me to watch. Because those kinds of frenetic emotions just stress this waspy New Englander out. A lot. So while I definitely cared about Kiri, I know myself well enough to recognize that I would neither be able to help her or accept her, and that’s the kind of BFF she needs.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
This book is not Dessenesque. Two broken people do not find each other and through their love, help each other get better. Kiri and Skunk are wild and mad and young and I spent most of the book worried for them, because that’s the way I am. But, in the context of this story, they were also perfect. Also, the author introduced my new favorite term of endearment: love bison.
Talky Talk: It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
This is going to be a very polarizing book. It’s either going to make people uncomfortable, like it did me, or they are going to feel that it is real and raw and life. And those feelings will have everything to do with the reader, and nothing to do with the way it was written, because Smith’s prose is beautiful and her story moves.
Bonus Factor: Music
The author wove the realistic aspects of being a musician — practice, practice, practice — with the joys of playing an instrument (and just listening to music) into a symphony of its own.
Bonus Factor: Bike Riding
In the start of the book, Kiri rides her bike as a means for transportation, but somewhere along the way, riding her bike becomes one of the many ways to experience joy, freedom, and even madness. BUT, WEAR A GODDAMN HELMET!!!!
Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award For Awful Parenting
Kiri’s parents are the absolute WORST, not because they are verbally or physically abusive, but because they are completely checked out. They should be shaken.
Relationship Status: It’s Not You, It’s Me
Book, you are gorgeous, deep, smart and impressive. I’m really glad I got to meet you, and I can’t wait to see where you go in life. You’re going to make some lucky reader incredibly happy, so don’t worry about any bumps along the way.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Harper Teen. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Wild Awake is available now.
