Review: Willow

by Julia Hoban

Summary: Ever since the night when Willow was driving her parents home in the rain.

Ever since crash that followed and killed her two parent with Willow at the wheel.

Willow's been a cutter.

And she's been able to keep it well hidden as she lives at her brother's house, until a guy Willow barely knows accidentally finds out. If he tells, it will destroy Willow's brother, who has already been through enough pain. If he doesn't, if he just leaves Willow, it might destroy him...

Review: Willow's story is heartbreaking, to say the least. It seems like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. But the chemistry between Willow and Guy is charming. Though well over 300 pages, Willow is still a rather quick read and has a nice pace. Nothing really major happens, but the story is still somehow very enticing.

I didn't particularly like Willow's character, however. Granted, her circumstances were awful, and this is the reason she is a cutter, but her complaining every single page got a little old. Guy's character was fantastic, and I would much rather have heard the story from his perspective, as He constantly surprised me. For me, Guy kept the story going.

And finally, my last annoyance.

*SPOILER WARNING*

I really didn't like the fact that everything got better once Guy and Willow slept together. It totally ruined the book for me, and seemed to send out the idea that you can get over anything if you sleep with a guy. I'm really sad that a YA author would even hint at this; it quite depresses me. I think if Hoban wouldn't have had this play a part in Willow, I would easily have suggested it for Teen's Top Ten at my library. However, I really don't think book that promote premarital sex should be promoted at the library.

*/SPOILER*

Okay, so overall: a very good book, a quick read, interesting characters (some annoyingly weak), and sends an awful message.

3.5 Stars

336 Pages

YA

Released

*contains language and sexuality