Title: HereAuthor: Denise Grover SwankPublisher: CreateSpacePublish Date: 11 November 2011Pages: 350ISBN: 978-1466394575Source: from author for book tourGenre: Young Adult, alien, romanceSeries: On the OthersideOther books in series: There (November 2012)
Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.
Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.
How would it make you feel knowing that you were driving the car that killed your best friend? That is what happened to Julia Phillips. Her best friend, Monica, was in the car when they got into an accident and she died. Julia doesn’t remember what happened in the accident. She has doubts as to who caused it. This has haunted Julia, not allowing her to do things. Her reaction to Monica dying has caused her to shut everything out. This causes a major rift in her family and makes things difficult for them.
As if things aren’t bad enough for Julia, her counselor at school threatens to send her to an alternative school if she doesn’t bring her grades up and turn herself around. She has to have a tutor to make up all the work that she has missed since Monica’s death. She never expected who the tutor would be - Evan Whittaker. He is acting strange towards her. Normally, he wouldn’t give her the time of day, but now he is all concerned about her and not caring about things that were previously important to him. Then there is Reece, the new kid who just came back from the alternative school.
Strange things are happening in Julia’s life that she doesn’t understand. Like where did the bracelet come from? After the accident, she mysteriously was found wearing a bracelet that said “Love endures forever.” Why has she been doodling Evan’s name ever since the accident? What is this strange connection to Reece and why is Evan being nice to her?
When I first started reading this book, I wasn’t too sure that I would like it. I was wrong. I liked how this book kept you in suspense. I never really knew what was going to happen next. It surprised me to the end.
On the Cover is a girl in a white dress standing in a pond in the woods. You can see two figures off in the distance. The color scheme of the cover is black and white. I liked the cover. It was initially what drew me to review this book.
•Julia Phillips. Her reaction to the death of her friend is like that of anyone in her circumstance would be. She doesn’t understand what happened and why she was the one to survive and not Monica. She tries to be better in the book and starts interacting with her family more.
•Evan Whittaker. The new Evan. The one that is nice to Julia and tutors her. Yes, it is strange that he changed, but I like the changes.
• Reece. You get to know a little about Reece in the story and find out that he is a funny guy. He came back from the alternative school before Julia finds out that she is being sent there. He gives Julia some pointers.
•Julia’s family. Okay, this isn’t really a “not like,” but I didn’t know where else to put this. I can realize what the driving force is behind some of the decisions that her mom and father make, I just don’t understand them.
• Some of the other people in the town. I don’t want to say too much and give the story away, but I did not like them.
• Sarah Chapman. She is the popular girl in school.
Thank you so much for hosting me today! I'm so happy that you enjoyed HERE! And isn't the book trailer amazing? Jennifer Thomas read HERE and loved it so much she made the trailer. :)
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