I really enjoyed this book! I laughed. I cried. I rolled my eyes. This is a fun, heart warming, thought provoking story of young love, illness, and surviving after illness.

I thoroughly enjoyed going on Hope’s journey with her. Her story was one about finding life (and love) in the darkest times of life.. She was inspirational in her resolve to live in the face of her own impending death and I felt like I was in Scandinavia with her. The friends she made and the love she found with Christian made this a beautiful romantic tale.

At first glance, Terminal 19 may appear as just another book about a young cancer patient. Hope, our ironically named main character is refreshingly unique in the way she looks at life. Her death is inevitable, and she's okay with that. She travels to Scandinavia as her last 'hoo-rah' before she gets too sick and meets some new friends during her stay, thanks to Christian, her token hot Scandinavian fling. But the longer she stays, Hope and Christian become more attached than she originally planned. Finding herself living for the first time, Hope realizes there's more to life than waiting for death, and there's more to her relationship with Christian than she wants to admit. Terminal 19 is not what I expected in the best way. Too often, the main character in a book dealing with cancer seems to be the generic: 'woe is me, I have cancer and am going to die a virgin!' But Terminal 19 gives a whole new outlook on the situation. Personally, I loved the characters and the attitude of the book in general!

Despite quite the heart-wrenching premise (19-year-old Hope taking her bucket-list trip to Scandinavia with a terminal diagnosis), L.R. Olson keeps this novel full of... well, hope.

Hope's trip is part self-discovery, part love story, and part a journey in friendship. Barely into her trip abroad, she meets Christian (aka Scandinavian Hottie) at a cafe. They keep running into each other and things take off from there. Her relationship with Christian grows while she also makes new connections and new friends, and comes alive as her own person. A coming of age story with a twist, Terminal 19 is an emotional and enjoyable read.

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.