Roadtrip of grief

Anna was only about a year younger than her sister Storm and spent much of her childhood tagging along after Storm and the boy next door, Cameron. When she started high school, Anna finally find her own friends and became involved in cheer leading, but when Storm dies in a car accident on the evening of her graduation, Anna is left confused and adrift, and Cameron seems to be the only one who understands and who knew Storm as well as her.

When they were children, Storm used to make up summer “bucket lists”, although the three of them never properly completed any of them. Looking through Storm’s things, Anna finds a notebook with a new list, of things Storm was probably planning on doing that summer. She becomes obsessed with completing this list and persuades Cameron to come along with her. While Anna’s aunt warns her that completing the list won’t bring Storm back, Anna feels that this is the best way to truly honour her sister’s memory.

Turns out that a whole bunch of FYA’s swoony beach romance recommendations are also about processing grief or dealing with loss in some way. A full six out of the eight books I’ve read this summer has one or several of the protagonists getting over the death or loss of (or abandonment by) a loved one. You wouldn’t think situations like that would be the best for starting romances, but in these books, that’s exactly what happens.

Full review on my blog.