This was a wonderful young adult romance read. It really showcased first time love as well as doing whatever it takes for your family. It was a slow , but still picked up and ended strong.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately I have been unable to get into it.

*I received a free copy of this ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

And honestly, I think this book was terrible.

The characters are incredibly selfish and stupid. Examples:
- Mike (the dad). He’s got health issues, including diabetes. He messed up his foot and will have to have it amputated. Solution: “I think I’ll tell my daughters I’m going on a 30-day hunting trip, when really I’m abandoning them to sulk in the woods until I die. And yet he’s hailed throughout the book as a great father.
- Maura. Her father is missing, and she decides to search for him with the boy next door. Only she spends more time shooting him googly eyes and going on adventures with him than actually searching for her father.
- Alex. He’s interested in the girl next door, and so he agrees to go on her quest. But he seems more concerned with checking out a ghost town museum and going swimming than finding Maura’s dad. (Not that she was complaining.)
- Mothers. Both Maura’s and Alex’s mothers were great at being absentee parents. “Free spirits,” maybe. (Is this commentary on the author’s own childhood, or something?)

The least selfish character in the book is Grandpa James, an extreme alcoholic who somehow is able to go from being plastered to perfectly lucid within moments.

Hopefully the book undergoes some serious editing between the ARC and the final printing. It’s riddled with errors—grammar, punctuation, word usage, etc. Even things about the characters themselves (Maura is sometimes 16 and sometimes 17; Natalie is sometimes 7 and sometimes 8). One day Maura is clueless about cooking, and the next day she whips up a meal for several people, complete with homemade potato salad. And what girl with a hunter father thinks that storing food inside the tent will keep it safe from bears?! I’m only an occasional camper, and I know that.

I had hoped this book would be similar to S.R. Johannes’s Untraceable, but it’s definitely not. Read that book not this one.

Note: Some swearing, including 1-2 f words. Poor editing. Bad prioritizing.

This book matters. It is honest and real and heartbreaking. The characters are incredibly well written, I was emotionally invested in the outcome of their story in a way I very rarely am with books.
My absolute favourite parts were Mike's journal entries. I'm someone who always skips ahead because I'm too anxious to wait for the big reveal, I enjoy the story more if I know the ending. Seeing things from Mike's perspective gave me just enough little hints to stop me flicking through, and thank god, because that ending absolutely stunned me. It wasn't the ending I wanted or even the one I dreaded, it was completely shocking and emotional. I am so glad to have read this book.

This book was average. I found the plot a little baffling at times, and the relationship between Maura and Alex felt a little flat.

I mostly enjoyed reading this book, I liked the friendship & relationship between Maura and Alex and watching it grow, however I thought the plot was a little bit slow for my liking, but other than that I had no other problem with the book, it was a nice read!
3.5 stars

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did, which is sad for me because it's not a bad story at all. It started out interesting, building up the dynamics between Maura, her younger sister, and her father. I liked that the father had a disability brought on my diabetes, which is not something you read about often, and it was nice to see the plot sort of revolving around that.

It all seemed to fall apart after that though. The relationship between Maura and Alex seemed to evolve rather fat, though the plot itself felt sort of slow. It was a strange juxtaposition, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I also couldn't quite follow the bits of plot with Maura's friend Elizabeth; that all felt sort of unnecessary to the rest of the plot.

The bones of a good story are there, I just think things need to be cleaned up a bit more. I really liked the ending though, I thought that was great and it really wrapped the story up nicely. I think a lot of people might find that ending upsetting, but not me. I love those sorts of endings, where things aren't perfect but still get wrapped up. So points for that!

I loved, loved loved this story! The writing is fantastic, and flows wonderfully, the characters are terrific and believable, and the story is original and compelling. I read it in one sitting, not wishing to stop. Seriously, it is an awesome story that should be promoted and published. EXCEPT, as I noted in the note to publisher, there are at least 4 simple but evident grammatical errors that need to be fixed. I would have given it 5 stars if not for that. I really sincerely love this book, if you have no one else pointing the errors out to you, email me at cheryl@pepperboxinc.com and I will gladly tell you where they are, what they are and how to fix them.