Never Eighteen Review & Giveaway

Never Eighteen
Megan Bostic @meganbostic
January 17th 2012 by HMH Children's Books
Goodreads

I had the dream again. The one where I’m running. I don’t know what from or where to, but I’m scared, terrified really.

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate he’s going, he probably won’t even see the end of the year. But in the short time he has left there’s one thing he can do: He can try to help the people he loves live—even though he never will.

It’s probably hopeless.

But he has to try.

I'm usually the girl with the dystopian or the paranormal books, but ever since John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, I've become a drawn to the emotional books. Don't ask me why. Nothing in my life at the moment is drawing me to them. It is just that these books are just so good. I'm not usually into books when I know someone is sick, because, really, I know I'm going to end up crying at some point, and I would try to avoid crying in my life if possible. So, I will tell you the truth: I adore this book.

You discover, when you read these emotional books, they have a way of have a way of grabbing you, hooking you, and then, you have read 50 pages without really meaning to do so. I was just glancing at the book as it came across my desk at the library one day and suddenly I was immersed in the story of Austin and his journey on his last "good" weekend with his best friend (and love of his life, even if he hasn't told her), Kaylee, who he gets to drive him around as he takes care of things weighing on his mind. Things like talking to his dead best friend's mother who is still grieving, his grandmother who is still bitter at his mother, the girl from high school who is going off on the wrong course after a extremely tragic occurrence, his father still living apart from his mother, and other people...these things are ripping me apart, and yet, I still read on. With each of these stops he listens to what they have to say and asks them: Why? Why are you living your life this way? Can you change? As a reader, you know Austin doesn't have long to live, and the other characters know it as well. Austin's questions are tiny seeds planted. He asks questions, offers suggestions, and then leaves, hoping change will occur for the better. These seeds are not only planted in the characters but also in the reader...very sneaky Megan Bostic...

Never Eighteen is bittersweet. You, as a the reader, think you know the ending, and to some degree you do. I don't really think that is the purpose of Never Eighteen. To me, the purpose of Never Eighteen is to make you think about how you are living you life. What if? What if you knew you only had so many days left? Would you live them differently? Would you talk to people differently? Tell someone something you had been meaning to tell them for a long time, but never had the courage? Never Eighteen offers the reality death does not discriminate by age. The young die just as the old do. How we chose to use our days is what matters. Can you make a difference? Big or small? Can your life impact one person or many? Never Eighteen, for me, reminds me that you are never too young or old to spread some love and change lives. :)

Lagniappe
So...I really like this book. I think you could tell. I'm going to spread this love around! That's right! This giveaway is international as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Check here to make sure!




RULES

  ~13 years old or with parents' permission

  ~International

  ~fill out the Rafflecopter below

  ~giveaway runs from June 30 to end of July 6

  ~winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen

Good luck!

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