Monday 25 June 2012

Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington



  Title: Saving June
  Author: Hannah Harrington
  Publisher: Harlequin UK
  Publishing date: June 1st 2012
  Source: NetGalley
  My rating: 4 stars


 






Saving Jane had been a book on my wish list ever since it hit the shelves in Australia, and the Aussie bloggers just couldn’t get enough. So I was excited to finally get my hands on a copy a year after first hearing about it.

Harper is struggling, her sister June has just passed away, she took her own life leaving no letter or explanation why. On the surface everything seemed fine with June, she’d found her boyfriend and cheated on her, but other than that everything seemed to be going okay. So finding June’s body in the back of her car was a massive shock. And now everything seems to be falling apart around Harper, after their parents separation, Harper’s mum was just coping, but now with June’s death she’s hit even harder, she seems to be walking around in a daze, and so Aunt Helen decides to take charge. Harper doesn’t mind Aunt Helen, but she thinks she knows best and Harper doesn’t really take to be told what to do. And to top it off, Harper’s parents want to split June’s ashes! Who in their right mind would want to do that? One night when rummaging around June’s things with her best friend Laney, Harper discovers a postcard from California and comes to a monumental decision, she will scatter June’s ashes in California; it was June’s dream place and so exactly what she would have wanted. However they have no way of getting to California and how are they going to leave without their parents discovering June’s ashes are missing? That’s where the mysterious Jake Tolan comes in, he turned up unexpectedly at June’s wake; June used to tutor him and so he offers his services to the girls; he will take them to California. This is the perfect opportunity for Harper, but why does she have a niggling feeling about Jake, has he got some hidden agenda, as to why he wants to help them out?

Harper; I so felt sorry for her, she was all alone without June and had a tough time with everyone always making comparisons between her and her dead sister. I understand that the only way she could move forward in her life was doing something for June, it wouldn’t bring complete closure, but it made her feel as if she had a purpose in her life.

Laney, I adored her, I’ve come across some awesome best friends in YA books lately and Laney has easily made it to the top of my list. She was constantly there for Harper, even though she was adamant that she was fine. I loved how she was such a spontaneous character, that you didn’t really know what to expect from her, also how she jumped freely into things without over-thinking them. She definitely livened things up a bit whenever Harper’s mood was low.

Jake; I remember nearly everyone who read this book fell in love with Jake, what’s not to love? He knows his music, he plays guitar, he can sing and has a gorgeous body. But I didn’t understand his flippant mood changes, he could be sweet and understanding one minute then arsey the next. Yeah it must have been difficult driving for hours with two girls with totally different moods. However since we first met him at June’s wake, I thought there was something shifty about him, I thought he held a torch for June, but his real intentions for driving to California did come as a quite surprise.

There’s nothing more I love than reading a road trip book, and this one was a great one, reading about their adventures from Michigan to California and the comical characters they meet on the way was great fun. Plus also we had the perfect weather over here for once, so I got to sit outside with my laptop devouring this lovely book. One of my favourite aspects of this book was the playlist, I love it when authors make up playlists for books especially ones which exactly match the feel and tone of the book and this one does exactly that!

I did enjoy Saving June, but not as much as I had originally hoped, maybe because my expectations were set too high in the first place. Instead of being a quick read as I thought it would be, it took me over a week to read it, I had numerous distractions that kept me from reading it, but when I also had the time to read, at times I didn’t feel like picking it up.

Overall Saving June was a beautiful read; it was full with vivid settings and beautiful writing and has left me with a yearning to road trip across America one day. I just wish I could have loved it that little bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin UK for the opportunity to read this book.


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that you did enjoy the book, overall Jasprit, although you did have some issues at times. Laney was one of my favorite characters as well and I felt really bad for Harper, as well. Just reading your review makes me want to read the book all over again ! :)
Lovely review, Jasprit ! :D

Vegan YA Nerds said...

I am glad you enjoyed this for the most part, Jas! I agree that I was suspicious of Jake for most of the book, too! I felt like he must have had an ulterior motive, I didn't see the real reason coming at all and it didn't seem as big a deal!

Great review :)

Celine said...

I really enjoyed Saving June too! Harrington's writing felt so real and I really loved it! Jack was such an AMAZING guy and I love his love of music! ;) And YES! ROAD TRIP is seriously AWESOME!

Awesome review, Jasprit! <3 Glad you enjoyed it!

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

A great review, Jasprit! I have never actually read a road-trip book before (or can't remember the last one if I have!) but this sounds fantastic. I am already in love with Jake from everyone's reviews and can't wait to meet him and Harper soon. I'm glad you enjoyed this! :)

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

I am so glad you liked this, Jasprit! I'm probably partly to blame for raising your expectations too high, but Jake is irresistible and I'm happy he got to you too. Wasn't the music just the best? Lisa and I both grew up listening to those songs, so I guess that contributed to our overall enjoyment.
Lovely review, my darling.

Jenny said...

Now you've got me curious Jasprit, I really want to know Jake's real reasons for driving to California with the girls! Love that Laney is a solid friend, and there's none of the mean girls type thing going on that's so common in YA books right now. While it wasn't exactly everything you hoped, it still sounds like a really enjoyable read:):)

Keertana said...

I absolutely loved this book too Jasprit and I'm glad to see you enjoyed it as well! This was my first road trip book and the only one I actually liked since I didn't end up enjoying In Honor as much as I originally anticipated. Nevertheless, I can't wait to read more of Harrington's future novels! Great review Jasprit! :D

~Keertana
Ivy Book Bindings

Mimi Valentine said...

Aww, how could you not have high expectations going into this book when everyone seems to be falling in love with it? I love how this is a road trip book -- I LOVE going on long car rides (well, I love the idea of them since as soon as I'm actually in the car, I usually want to get out LOL) and I'm sure I'll love this too. And I really liked how you broke down the characters -- I think Laney the awesome friend will be my favourite! :)

Beautiful review, J! <3

-Ria xo said...

I want to read this so badly! Though I hope my expectations aren't too high, so the book doesn't live up to them [as in your case].

Harper sounds like such a beautiful character, and Jake sounds 100% swoon-worthy. Other than this shifty thing you're talking about... Which could reduce his swoon-worthy-ness to 60%...

Amazing review, Jasprit!<3

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Awesome review. I'm sorry you didn't love it quite as much as you wanted, but at least it was a beautiful book in general. I'm very curious about this one too. I think it sounds quite good and road trip books are always good for the summertime, since it's summer where I am! :) Yay for playlists that really fit the book. I love that too.

-Lauren

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I, too, have read all the hype and grabbed a copy but for some reason I haven't read it yet. I love road trip books and all that but I don't know, I guess I am like you and just don't want to be disappointed. Thanks for your insight, Jaspirit.

Anna Scott said...

Love a good road trip book,. And a good playlist. I think the two probably go hand in hand! I've read lots of great things about this one. Hopefully I'll get around to reading it soon!

Rachel said...

I love listening to book playlist while reading a book too! Beautiful review! I'm glad to learn more about this book! I'm so curious to find out jakes reason.

Eunice said...

The exciting road trip, great music, awesome places, wonderful characters - what's more to like?! So glad you enjoyed this one, Jasprit! Great review. :D

Giselle said...

Beautiful review! I really enjoyed this one too and not too long ago :) And yes I loved Jake and his intentions did come as a surprise I was sure he had something up his sleeve at first but I'm so glad he didn't. I really enjoyed the life in this book which is surprising with such a harsh subject!

Pooja. S said...

Beautiful review, Jasprit :o) The characters sound out-of-this-world amazing and it sounds like such an exciting and intense road trip book!!! I'm sorry you didn't love it as much as you wanted to but it still sounds like a special book. The playlists sound fab!

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