This story revolves around a girl named Brie or Aubrie is her full name, before she even gets to live as a sixteen year old she dies of heartbreak. Once you've finished this book you can see a huge change in Brie, she starts of this totally psycho girlfriend and ends up this being this old soul in a way. Then there is Patrick a dead guy who starts talking to Brie even though she would rather be left alone, he was charming and sometimes it was easy to see why Brie would want to be left alone, I mean come one the girl was getting called cheese nicknames every time he said something. He was also mysterious as you didn't know much about him, like how he died, where he came from or how old he was. Then you have some living characters like Brie's Dad, Brie's Mum, Bries brother Jack her families dog Hamloaf. There was also Brie's three friends Sadie, Emma and Tess, and last bu not least Jacob Brie's boyfriend or used to be boyfriend anyway. All the characters in this book had a role to play okay maybe some did more than others however it all worked in the end, there are also other characters who I haven't mentioned because I think it's best if you just read about them yourselves.I thought this was a very well thought out idea, and it takes a new and unique prospective on what happens after death. It was a very eye opening book and be warned you will need a tissue I was left in tears at the end, but not necessarily because it was sad but because it was happy. At one point I was left sitting there thinking "Wait, I don't get it..." but after reading it again I got it, if I could explain this book in one sentence it would be, a more modern version of Ghost with a twist. The only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars is because although it was really good it wasn't one of those books I could jump around and say, hey! this is amazing! although if I was you I would definitely add this a box of Kleenex to your wishlist. I loved that you also didn't know what was going to happen next, I mean it felt like I knew what was going on but really in the end it works out that I really had no clue.Overall a delightful story about love, life, death, family and friendship, it will make cry, laugh and maybe even look at life in another way it's definitely a memorable story.
Saving June follows a girl named Harper who’s sister committed suicide, and how she goes on a road trip to California with a mysterious boy and her best friend so that she can scatter the ashes of her sister. I loved Harper, at first I didn’t think I was going to connect with her at all but then something just clicked. She was just very realistic to me and with the sarcasm thrown in she was bound to be a winner, but the best thing about her was that on the outside she was a rock but then as the story went on those layers were peeled back. Laney is Haper’s best friend and just like all the characters in this book they seemed so real, I could totally sympathise with Laney and the situations she was put in. One of the other big characters was Jake, he was completely mysterious in the fact that he never revealed anything about his life, and also that Harper didn’t know his affiliation with her sister. I must say Jake also had a great music taste and combined with the story it just screamed summer, Jake and Harper also made a great combination they were both as stubborn and sarcastic as each other and I constantly found myself smiling at their witty remarks and constant quibbles. So when I first heard of this book I was like “Count me in!.”, but then I became sceptical of reading, it as I’d just read Black Heart Blue which was a pretty intense read. I’d also read other books were death was a prominent part of the story, adding this to the beautiful heat wave the UK were having all I wanted to do was read something light. I was far from disappointed though and I found that although this story did revolve around the death of June, it was also a tale of friendship and love. It’s hard to put this kindly but I felt that the death in this books was taken lightly, and that’s not a bad thing I mean at points the characters especially Harper, would break down or share their thoughts about June, but just like in reality life moves on. I didn’t ever expect to be hooked to a book like this and I didn’t really understand why everyone was going crazy for this book during its release, that is until I found myself staying up until the earliest hours of the morning trying to see if I could finish it. I think the fact that Harper wasn’t all “I feel so sorry from myself.” “I’m not pretty.” was another reason I kept reading, she was different but in a good way. The setting gave major brownie points to this book for me, you can’t really say it had one setting as it was a road trip but just reading about it made me want to jump on a plane and go on a road trip all around the USA.Overall Saving June is definitely a summer read, it’s not as depressing and tear jerking as it sounds and it will most certainly be worthy of a second read. I can also guarantee that this book will make you laugh, maybe shed a tiny tear and have you smiling until the very last page.
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