Title: How to Save a Life
Author: Sara Zarr
Publisher: Little, Brown
Publisher: Little, Brown
Your Age Recommendation: 16+
Publication Date: 10/2011
Available for Kindle?: Yes
Pages: 341
Copy: Hardcover
My Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Angela
Synopsis:
Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.
Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?
As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.
Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?
As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.
My Review:
Fact: I avoid pregnancy stories like the plague. The reason for this is that I don't generally find them to be a) well crafted or b) entertaining. This is except for the movie Juno. That, I loved.
At any rate, How to Save a Life has garnered quite a buzz among the more bookish of my friends, and I snagged it from my library to see what all the fuss was about. And now, I absolutely know.
Jill's father passed away less than a year ago, her mother has decided to adopt a baby in an open adoption, and Mandy is the mother of the child that is intended to be adopted.
It's a simple enough idea, really, but Sara Zarr amazed me with her ability to quietly weave the history of the narrator as well as their exact emotions into her writing. Nothing was ever in your face; in fact, I think a key example of this is Mandy's history. A verbally and emotionally abusive mother paired with a man in her life who took advantage of Mandy in every other possible way could have come across as excessively dark and difficult to read; instead, it's simply a fact. An unfortunate fact, yes, but a fact, and something that Mandy is very clearly ready to move past. Also, Mandy operates under a sort of ... purposeful ignorance, and it's really an intriguing thing, in the context of the story.
Jill is angry. It's an odd kind of angry, because she's fully aware that the anger she's feeling is making her into a jerk to most of the people she cares about, but she can't make herself stop. As part of the grieving process, this is something I feel most people can relate to. Again, this anger could have been irritatingly explained to death, but Zarr did it through short, derisive, internal commentary, and as a result, I really related to Jill (and Mandy) throughout the novel.
Then there's the baby. And Jill's mom. And I'd even say that Mac, Jill's dad, is a key character in this novel. His absence draws attitude and emotion out of almost every character in How to Save A Life, regardless of whether they knew him personally or not.
The thing is that the struggles here were believable. The burgeoning romance between Jill and a character that quickly became one of my favorite people in this world was told in halting but persistent chapters. The way that Mandy came to learn what life should really be like, and what it means to be truly valued as a human being was never trite. Over all of this, even when I didn't agree with their words or their intentions, I wanted this makeshift family to make it through. I rooted for them.
It was lovely, and by the time Jill realizes where she is in the grieving process, and by the time the rift between Jill and her mother begins to heal, and by the time Mandy finally "gets" it, I was overcome with tears.
Note: That doesn't happen often.
How to Save a Life is a realistic depiction of a life that could belong to any three women in anyone's life. It was beautiful and intense and lovely. I absolutely recommend it.
At any rate, How to Save a Life has garnered quite a buzz among the more bookish of my friends, and I snagged it from my library to see what all the fuss was about. And now, I absolutely know.
Jill's father passed away less than a year ago, her mother has decided to adopt a baby in an open adoption, and Mandy is the mother of the child that is intended to be adopted.
It's a simple enough idea, really, but Sara Zarr amazed me with her ability to quietly weave the history of the narrator as well as their exact emotions into her writing. Nothing was ever in your face; in fact, I think a key example of this is Mandy's history. A verbally and emotionally abusive mother paired with a man in her life who took advantage of Mandy in every other possible way could have come across as excessively dark and difficult to read; instead, it's simply a fact. An unfortunate fact, yes, but a fact, and something that Mandy is very clearly ready to move past. Also, Mandy operates under a sort of ... purposeful ignorance, and it's really an intriguing thing, in the context of the story.
Jill is angry. It's an odd kind of angry, because she's fully aware that the anger she's feeling is making her into a jerk to most of the people she cares about, but she can't make herself stop. As part of the grieving process, this is something I feel most people can relate to. Again, this anger could have been irritatingly explained to death, but Zarr did it through short, derisive, internal commentary, and as a result, I really related to Jill (and Mandy) throughout the novel.
Then there's the baby. And Jill's mom. And I'd even say that Mac, Jill's dad, is a key character in this novel. His absence draws attitude and emotion out of almost every character in How to Save A Life, regardless of whether they knew him personally or not.
The thing is that the struggles here were believable. The burgeoning romance between Jill and a character that quickly became one of my favorite people in this world was told in halting but persistent chapters. The way that Mandy came to learn what life should really be like, and what it means to be truly valued as a human being was never trite. Over all of this, even when I didn't agree with their words or their intentions, I wanted this makeshift family to make it through. I rooted for them.
It was lovely, and by the time Jill realizes where she is in the grieving process, and by the time the rift between Jill and her mother begins to heal, and by the time Mandy finally "gets" it, I was overcome with tears.
Note: That doesn't happen often.
How to Save a Life is a realistic depiction of a life that could belong to any three women in anyone's life. It was beautiful and intense and lovely. I absolutely recommend it.








