Title: How To Save a Life
Author: Eva Carter
Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 stars
Expected Publication: May 18th 2021
Synopsis:
In this heartfelt love story, three friends find out what it really means to save someone.
Kerry Smith is going to save lives--and so is her best friend, Tim Palmer. After years of working towards medical school, they are about to sit for their entrance exams. But on the eve of the new millennium, a classmate goes into cardiac arrest, changing everything.
For nearly eighteen minutes, rising soccer star Joel Greenaway is dead. For nearly eighteen minutes, Kerry performs CPR on her long-time crush. And for nearly eighteen minutes, Tim is too shocked to help. And though they don't yet know it, those eighteen minutes will change the next eighteen years of their lives.
Because as it turns out, saving a life doesn't always guarantee a happy ending.
With his soccer career cut short, Joel lashes out and breaks Kerry's heart by ending their burgeoning relationship with a cruelty that derails her future, while Tim struggles to reconcile his dream of becoming a doctor with the reality of failing to act. As each struggles to move on from the events of that fateful New Year's Eve, their lives can't seem to stop colliding year after year. Pulled by their shared histories and her big heart, Kerry soon finds herself picking up the pieces after both broken men. But when Kerry is the one who needs saving, will anyone be there for her?
As Kerry, Tim, and Joel discover what it means to love, to forgive, and to find your calling, this sweeping novel shows us that there is more than one way to save a life--and more than one path to finding meaning in your own.
Source: Goodreads
I have very mixed feelings about How To Save a Life. On the one hand, i found it really difficult to read because of the writing style and the POVs. On the other hand, i was intrigued enough to continue reading until the end because i needed to find out what happens to the characters. Overall, i rate this book 3 stars ⭐️
I feel like this book had so much potential to be worthy of 5 stars. While the characters and writing felt very under-developed, the story itself was actually quite promising, and some parts were even clever. Perhaps with a few rounds of editing this could easily be polished. However, i do want to note that i did read an Advanced Reader's Copy, so maybe the final book might be a bit different, I'm not sure.
I really wasn't a fan of the writing style. It didn't flow that smoothly and the author's choices of words and sentences were often quite awkward. I noticed this especially in dialogues, where sometimes the characters say things too formally, hence sounding awkward and unrealistic, which disrupts the narrative for me.
Furthermore, although there were 3 main POV; Kerry, Tim and Joel's, sometimes Kerry and Tim's narrative sounded too similar that I often got confused about whose POV i was reading and had to go back to the chapter heading just to check. Apart from this, I think the author could have done a better job at developing these three characters throughout the book. I feel like i only got to know about them through what they did (or their actions), rather than through their thoughts and feelings to further understand their motives and thought process.
As for the plot, overall it was quite messy and also underdeveloped, but it did get much better towards the end. I suppose, whether intentionally or not, this kind of represents the maturity of the three characters throughout the book. As they grew older, they started to make better decisions and they're more sure about themselves. In particular, i really enjoyed seeing Joel's character improving, especially after Leo comes into the picture. I also appreciated seeing Kerry's struggle with depression and her perseverance in achieving her career dreams.
Overall, i did enjoy some parts of How To Save a Life, but it could really be improved to be a more polished novel.
0 comments:
Post a Comment