Author: Melissa Kantor
Publication Date: February 18th 2014
~A copy was provided by HarperTeen via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~
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Critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend's life-threatening illness.
Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.
Even when she isn't sure what to say.
Even when Olivia misses months of school.
Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.
The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.
In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned
Zoe and her best friend, Olivia, have always had big plans for the future, none of which included Olivia getting sick. Still, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her friend.
Even when she isn't sure what to say.
Even when Olivia misses months of school.
Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia's crush.
The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.
In this incandescent page-turner, which follows in the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, Melissa Kantor artfully explores the idea that the worst thing to happen to you might not be something that is actually happening to you. Raw, irreverent, and honest, Zoe's unforgettable voice and story will stay with readers long after the last page is turned
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Every now and then you come across a book that you know from
the off you're not going to like the outcome, and with a tagline involving The
Fault in Our Stars, you're pretty much done for it. It's the kind of book, that
half an hour later after reading it, I'm thinking oh. This book gives you feelings. Maybe One Day was out of my
comfort zone, and what I got from it was very much how I felt like after finishing
The Fault in Our Stars, but the difference between that and Maybe One Day, was
that the whole story, although centred around cancer, was all about friendship.
You have this person, the one person you trust in, trust to say everything and
anything to, that even when you don't know what to do, they're there. That when
you cry, they cry with you. Your best friend. Who now has cancer, and suddenly
everything's changed.
The best thing about Maybe One Day is the way it was written in Zoe's perspective, and not Olivia's. We hear so much about cancer patients, you know what happens, but with this, where shown the other side of cancer. It doesn't just affect that the person with cancer. And it showed that. The struggle of coping with that person, your family, your friend, your child and grasping that they have cancer, and then you have to shove that aside and be what they need you to be. Strength, poised, calm, things will be alright. You need them to believe in you. You need them to believe in you because it's all they have. And dealing with that, when you're trying to understand and then having to become this fake thing, because you know it's not going to be alright, it's going to be hard, and they know it's not going to be alright, it's going to be hard, but the person with cancer lets you believe that you believe in what you're saying, because that's what you need. It's a cycle.
The best thing about Maybe One Day is the way it was written in Zoe's perspective, and not Olivia's. We hear so much about cancer patients, you know what happens, but with this, where shown the other side of cancer. It doesn't just affect that the person with cancer. And it showed that. The struggle of coping with that person, your family, your friend, your child and grasping that they have cancer, and then you have to shove that aside and be what they need you to be. Strength, poised, calm, things will be alright. You need them to believe in you. You need them to believe in you because it's all they have. And dealing with that, when you're trying to understand and then having to become this fake thing, because you know it's not going to be alright, it's going to be hard, and they know it's not going to be alright, it's going to be hard, but the person with cancer lets you believe that you believe in what you're saying, because that's what you need. It's a cycle.
Although we're reading from Zoes perspective, Olivia's a
very prominent and centre character, and very much in Zoe's life as a best friend should be. Things
weren't forced between them, they had their own inside jokes, the easiness
between them, made you feel the love between them, that the friendship felt
real, and the aftermath of it felt real. And though there is a little romance
in there, it doesn't overtake the story, and it flowed really naturally, it's
not instalove, and it doesn't triumph the friendship.
And God, this one killed me.
It's hard to talk about because I feel like whatever I say,
wouldn't do it justice, it ones of those books that you have to read for yourself
to see it, because the subject is common, and it affects everyone, you don't
have to know a person who's had/has cancer to connect with the characters, and
they are beautifully well layered.
If you're looking for a light read, go home. If you want something
real, that is beautiful and realistic and all kinds of sad, but something that
will stick with you, Maybe One Day's it.
Rating: 4.5/5
