Nastya was a piano prodigy, and music was her whole life. Then a violent attack left her crippled physically and emotionally. Two years after the incident, she moves in with her aunt and starts over in a new town for her senior year of high school. Although Nastya doesn’t want anyone infringing on her angry solitude, she finds an unlikely friend in Drew, a known playboy with a heart of gold. At the same time, she’s irresistibly drawn to his best friend, Josh, a quiet, mysterious classmate with a painful past of his own.
I’m attracted to stories of broken people who fall in love, wade through each other’s mess, and help each other find healing. This novel fits the bill. I enjoyed a lot of the little details, like Nastya’s obsession with names (which I share – now I feel less weird!) and the warmth of Drew’s family. I also appreciated that, while we feel the intimacy and coziness of Nastya and Josh’s developing relationship, the story is as much about friendship and family as romance.
Recommended for fans of: Slammed, Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour, Sarah Dessen
PS: Because this novel contains a fair amount of language and sexuality, this is a good time for me to directly address the fact that I am a Christian who is okay with reading books containing language and sexuality. I know that many of my blog readers are much more conservative than I am, so I often feel the need to disclaim. I generally don’t have a problem with these aspects of media as long as the overall message is good/redemptive, and/or they flow naturally from the subject matter, are true to the characters, and generally aren’t gratuitous. (Although part of the reason I read so much YA literature is that it’s less harsh than most adult fiction.) But everyone’s judgment is different. So from here on out, just be aware that the books I review (and movies, shows, and music that I recommend) are probably not totally “clean.” I’m not going to apologize for that anymore!
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