Echoes Between Us is the story of Veronica, a teenage girl with a brain tumor, and Sawyer, an adrenaline junkie with an addiction to jumping off high cliffs into rocky pools of water. The two are brought together by Sawyer moving into the lower portion of Veronica's house and they become partners on their senior thesis, changing both of their lives forever.
The characters in this book are deep and rich. Veronica is quirky, adorable, and has a zest for life that is absolutely infectious. Sawyer is caring and smart and learns a lesson about how to take care of others by learning how to take care of oneself first. They are smart, confident in a way that I still wish I could be as an "adult," and very easy to connect with. This book has a little bit of everything from love and heartache to ghosts and alcoholism. It's a great, fast-paced read that made me want to skip to the end to see how it all played out because the suspense was killing me. It was scary, exciting, heartbreaking, reaffirming, and heartwarming to read.
This novel delves deep into matters of alcoholism, addiction, cancer, fear, and too much responsibility placed on people's shoulders when they are far too young to handle it. I wish this book existed when I was a teenager coping with similar struggles caring for an alcoholic parent in high school. The novel does such a great job of explaining addiction and is even so nuanced as to break down Al-Anon and AA. I loved seeing this in a YA novel, as it's something I've never come up against in one before and thought the explanations of addiction and the emotions associated with it for all of those involved in an addict's life to be truly apt. The book also encourages religious healing in a way that wasn't overbearing or preachy, which I appreciate as someone who isn't particularly religious myself. It's beautifully written, tackles big issues in an accessible way, and is so relatable it brought tears to my eyes on several occasions.
Echoes Between Us teaches readers such important lessons about growing up and what it means to put others before oneself. It's something I would recommend to any young adults struggling to be responsible for others as well as themselves. I related to Sawyer on a level I didn't know I needed until reading this book. I loved it and can't wait for others to fall in love with the story, as well as the characters and lessons within it when it comes out in the new year!
The characters in this book are deep and rich. Veronica is quirky, adorable, and has a zest for life that is absolutely infectious. Sawyer is caring and smart and learns a lesson about how to take care of others by learning how to take care of oneself first. They are smart, confident in a way that I still wish I could be as an "adult," and very easy to connect with. This book has a little bit of everything from love and heartache to ghosts and alcoholism. It's a great, fast-paced read that made me want to skip to the end to see how it all played out because the suspense was killing me. It was scary, exciting, heartbreaking, reaffirming, and heartwarming to read.
This novel delves deep into matters of alcoholism, addiction, cancer, fear, and too much responsibility placed on people's shoulders when they are far too young to handle it. I wish this book existed when I was a teenager coping with similar struggles caring for an alcoholic parent in high school. The novel does such a great job of explaining addiction and is even so nuanced as to break down Al-Anon and AA. I loved seeing this in a YA novel, as it's something I've never come up against in one before and thought the explanations of addiction and the emotions associated with it for all of those involved in an addict's life to be truly apt. The book also encourages religious healing in a way that wasn't overbearing or preachy, which I appreciate as someone who isn't particularly religious myself. It's beautifully written, tackles big issues in an accessible way, and is so relatable it brought tears to my eyes on several occasions.
Echoes Between Us teaches readers such important lessons about growing up and what it means to put others before oneself. It's something I would recommend to any young adults struggling to be responsible for others as well as themselves. I related to Sawyer on a level I didn't know I needed until reading this book. I loved it and can't wait for others to fall in love with the story, as well as the characters and lessons within it when it comes out in the new year!