This was a book that I was super excited for as it was compared to one of my favourites and was told in a really interesting way, but it wound up being a bit of a disappointment. I don’t really understand the point of it being told in reverse and personally, though an interesting choice, it didn’t work for me. I also couldn’t get past the amount of tense shifts that happened, especially the ones within the same sentence. However, I do think that it was well written and the twist at the end involving the accident was well executed. By no means a bad book, just didn’t work for me.

A YEAR TO THE DAY is written by Robin Benway, an extremely talented writer who also wrote Audrey Wait! and whose previous book, Far From the Tree, won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the PEN America award. Benway showcases her strength further by writing in reverse chronological order in this new young adult novel which explores grief and loss. As the title indicates, it opens 365 days after; yes, it has been one year since high school sophomore Leo's older sister, Nina, died. Benway deftly probes the huge array of emotions that pummel Leo: "the future which seemed so definite and assured that it makes Leo want to laugh now, laugh at how stupid she was for thinking that any of it had been guaranteed." The reader experiences the complexity and confusion of grief with East, Nina's boyfriend, and her parents, including kind-hearted step-mom Stephanie. Varied references to music, conversations, gifts of books on coping with grief, and the holidays all convey the passage of time as background for Leo's pain: "She can't make eye contact because she knows it will shatter her and she needs to keep it together for everyone else's sake." A YEAR TO THE DAY is an intense and powerful read; if anything, the emotions seem to become even stronger as the novel moves closer to its end and the actual accident. 4.5 stars

3.5 stars. This book about a high school sophomore dealing with the death of her sister is told in reverse from one year after her death back to the day of her death. The format was intriguing but sometimes messed with the flow of the book. This book will appeal to teens who like sad realistic fiction such as "The Sky is Everywhere" by Jandy Nelson.

I had never read a book by Robin Benway before, but I had heard a lot of good things. I knew I wanted to check out her work, so when I saw A Year to the Day I figured now was as good a time as any.

After reading the synopsis, I was expecting a book that slowly filled in blanks of why Leo couldn’t remember things and how that story transpired. The phrase, “As the days tumble one into the next” I found to be very deceiving from the description of the book. Why, you ask? The book goes backwards. The days don’t tumble one into the next. You start a year to the day from the accident and the story works backwards. You are reading dates as they go back to the day of. While this would have been fine, I was a little perturbed because it made it seem like I was reading a very confusing, broken story. Each time the story jumped back, I had to quickly figure out where in this timeline I was (the dates were given) and how it fit into what had already happened. Not sure I am a fan of this style of writing.

With that being said, I also was a little let down by the ending of the book. I expected some huge reveal, and while there is a reveal, it really didn’t make me gasp or be shocked. It didn’t change anything in the story. No one ever knew, at least up to where the book started a year later, and I was let down by that. The story wasn’t a happy one at all, although there were some small happy moments. It was a bit depressing, which I can almost let go because of the storyline. It is obviously not a happy moment for these characters. I was just let down by this ending and was hoping for some big shock to get me more excited for the book.

With that being said, had this story been flipped, I probably would have liked it a lot more. Little memories being revealed throughout or even a back and forth between East’s and Leo’s point of views could have made it more exciting. I wanted to like it more.

Again, I have heard a lot of really good things about Robin Benway’s books so I fully intend to check out more. This one just didn’t click with me, but it may with you. I encourage everyone to pick it up and check it out and let me know if your thoughts differed from mine.

The premise of this book was super intriguing. Starting at a year from Leo’s sister’s death, this book goes back in time until the tragic accident that killed Nina.

I enjoyed this book. It was awful and sad and gut wrenching (in the best way). My main issue was that telling the story backwards kind of left the ending a little weak.

Leo’s older sister, Nina, dies in a car accident when the girls and Nina’s boyfriend, East, are driving home from a party. The book moves backwards through the year following Nina’s death, starting with the one-year memorial service and ending slightly before the accident. A beautifully-written book that I will not soon forget. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

A Year to the Day by Robin Benway was a solid YA contemporary novel in the realistic fiction genre. It tells the story of Leo, who is grieving during the first year of her sister's death. I loved the clever format in which the novel was written: the story begins a year after her death and each chapter goes back in time until we reach the day of her death. Some readers may find that confusing, but I felt that the style gets easier as the book goes on. So when I questioned something that happened, I could expect it to be explained in the next chapter.

The writing was beautiful and sad, and I felt a connection to both Leo, the sister, and East, who was Nina's boyfriend. My disappointment was that the ending was rather abrupt. Yes, we came full circle to the day of Nina'a death, but I would have loved one more chapter set in the far future - maybe two years or five years afterward to find out how everyone was coping.

Many thanks to the publisher, HarperTeen, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

It was moving and kept me on my toes to read a story of grief in reverse. We see the aftershocks of loss and then trace backwards to the impact point. I enjoyed this and am considering purchasing for my 6-8 campus.

A Year to the Day is a story about love, grief, and family. The story begins at the end--a year to the day after Leo's sister Nina died in a car accident. The car contained Leo, her sister Nina, and her sister's boyfriend, East. After Nina's death, the two passengers left behind struggle to deal with their loss and often find that they can really only turn to each other. The reader also sees a window into a family gluing themselves back together again (or, more accurately, ungluing themselves) after such a horrific loss.

Benway, as usual, does a phenomenal job of characterization. Leo's voice is so crystal clear she truly feels like a real person, and even though Nina isn't alive for most of the book, she, too, feels real and tangible. Their love for each other is also captured well. I felt deeply moved by the way Benway shows Leo's grief (and that of her parents and East), particularly as someone who has had huge losses in the last year.

While telling the story from end to beginning is a neat trick, I'm not sure it served this particular story well. There's something strangling about going backwards when it comes to loss and grief. And there is a sort of twist at the end that really seems unnecessary. Telling it this way also makes the ending (which is the beginning) feel as though the characters deserve some kind of epilogue. Eventually, Leo will know what really happened, and when she does, it will shatter her all over again, and to know that as a reader and have no idea whether she survives having that knowledge is unsettling.

I'm not sure I will put this in my library. I don't know how I would recommend it to students, especially if I don't know their personal history of death, loss, and grief. It could be exceptionally triggering to have a book that ends with such rawness. A Year to the Day is beautifully written, though, so I do think it will find its readers.

Told in reverse, this is the story of Leo grappling with the loss of her sister Nina in a horrific car crash. The structure is unique and compelling. The story reminded me strongly of the adult novel, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance. Hand this to fans of Ashley Schumacher.

Robin Benway is great at tough topics meets engrossing stories. This is sure to appeal to high school students and help them feel seen. Her teenage voice is spot on without talking down to teenagers and her writing is easily digestible but strong.

It has been one year since Leo’s sister, Nina, died in a tragic car accident; one year spent without her best friend; one year of grief. But, what happened during that past year? We find out in A Year to the Day by Robin Benway, which is told in reverse chronological order, beginning one year after Nina’s death and ending with the hour leading up to the accident.

This story follows Leo, a sophomore in high school who struggles with anxiety and grief over the loss of her older sister. Worse, or maybe better, she has no memory of the accident that took her sister’s life even though she was in the car when the drunk driver plowed into them. The only person who truly understands what Leo is going through is East, Nina’s boyfriend, who was also involved in the accident. In stark contrast to Leo, East vividly remembers everything that happened on the night that Nina died, but he refuses to share his memories, assuring Leo that sometimes not remembering is better.

The structure of A Year to the Day is certainly unique, and it made for an interesting way to tell Leo’s story. However, I think the reverse chronological structure actually caused more issues than the uniqueness of the storytelling could make up for. It created a lot of repetition, which made the story drag and feel a bit boring; an event would be discussed in one chapter and then in the next chapter we would jump back in time to when that event actually occurred. Even the chapters that focused on the accident, which I assume were meant to be the height of the action, were boring because we has already heard so much about it. And the big reveal during the accident was so obvious, that I had already figured that out before I even reached the halfway point.

The character development was non-existent. In fact, much like the story is unfolding in reverse, so is the character development, so we actually see the characters getting worse and worse the more you read. We see friendships devolve, and characters just disappear as you go along because Leo hasn’t met them yet, or started spending time with them yet. I understand that Benway was trying to tell a story about the stages of grief in a new way, but the farther I read the more I disliked the book. And when I started reading I actually quite enjoyed the story and the characters.

I feel that this review ended up being very negative, but would you believe me if I said I didn’t hate this book? While I didn’t enjoy the way it ended up playing out, I did appreciate the story and the challenging way Benway told it. I think the biggest problem I had with A Year to the Day is that I was really enjoying the first part of the book, and for some reason it lost the things I was enjoying the further back in time we went and left me feeling disappointing. So, don’t let my review scare you away, it’s still worth giving this novel a shot, just go into it prepared.

I’ll always love Benways stories.

The author’s voice and writing style is amazing and the fact that this book is told in reverse chronological order made it a different and unique read.

I am a huge fan of Robin Benway and appreciate the way she crafted this book. It was very creative and well done, but I didn't love it in the way I loved Far From the Tree. I felt like it was ambitious and smart, but it just didn't fulfil what I wanted from this book.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollin's Children's Book for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

A Year to the Day is a story about love, loss, and grief. It is truly heartbreaking. This story was told in reverse and I find it unique however it is something I did not enjoy. For me it made the story confusing. But still, a good read.

3 stars

I love Robin Benway so much that I've taught two of her novels - one for several years - in a college-level children's/YA literature course. Thus, I was thrilled to be able to read this newest addition to the collection and also so surprised to find myself a bit disappointed with it overall.

Leo, the m.c., is going through a terrible experience. When readers meet her, she's a year (to the titular day) out from her sister Nina's tragic death in a car accident. To make things worse, Leo and East - Nina's boyfriend - were also in the accident, and Leo cannot remember any details of the accident itself.

The best features of this book are Benway's characteristically flowing style and expansive (for the audience) character development. Come and then stay for this. What did not work as well for me is the structure. Readers start at that one-year mark and then work back in time toward the accident and the time surrounding it. It's tough - especially in such a darkly themed book - to feel any sense of hope as we all knowingly move toward the main event. We can't change the outcome, and it's also somewhat tedious to read about even the smallest life events or exchanges and then read about the anticipation of those moments...that we've already seen. It's an interesting concept, but I really struggled with this format. The biggest challenge is the accident itself. Leo makes a regular point, understandably, of questioning why she can't remember the details. It's not hard to guess what those details might be. Arriving at the details made me think, "Huh. I knew this was coming. I was dreading it. And that's the end."

No book about the unexpected death of a teenager is going to be uplifting, but this one really spirals down from times are tough to let's review how tough they were and end there. Rather than feeling innovative, this structure made me feel detached from the characters and from their outcomes...since we just keep going backward.

I remain a devoted fan of this author, but this one just didn't work for me.

I really really wanted to like this book. I loved Leo and the themes of grief and family, but I couldn't get past the writing style. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the point of view used in this story didn't fit and made it hard to get into. I typically don't mind when books follow a unique passage of time, but the backward transition didn't work for this story - it made some parts confusing and made parts less suspenseful/exciting than I think they would have been if it went in order. I think maybe a then/now alternating chapter style might have worked better for this one. I'd definitely try another book by this author, but this one wasn't for me.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel tells in reverse what happens in the lives of family members and loved ones after the loss of someone they cherished.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

They say the first year is the hardest.

In her latest novel, Robin Benway explored the pain of losing a loved one. The thing that stood out the most was Benway’s choice to tell the story in reverse chronological order. It begins a year after Nina’s death, at her memorial where Nina’s loved ones were not fully healed but were okay. Since the story played out backwards, I could see the depth of the grief and how far they had come in their healing journey. There were many highs and lows, and I felt their pain and heartache in my bones.

But, I also experienced their overwhelming love for the young woman they lost. There were some really beautiful memories of Nina shared over the course of the year, and no recollections were as lovely as the ones shared between Leo and East. Both East and Leo loved Nina dearly. She was East’s girlfriend, as well as Leo’s sister and favorite person. They found a lot of comfort in each other, as they were not only connected by their love for Nina, but also, the fact that they were all involved in the accident. The duo had some tumultuous moments, but East became a dear friend of Leo’s. His friendship, and other things he did, were really meaningful.

Though the BIG reveal didn’t hit me in the way I believe was intended, I still felt the overall emotional impact of the story. Benway’s portrayal of this family’s grief was raw and real. It was moving and heartbreaking eliciting tears as well as smiles from me.

Well damn.

I received this ARC in order to share an honest review. So here you go.

I was not expecting that ending. You would think oh we know how it ends, well you don't know how it begins.

Leo, East, and Nina go to a party one night and are hit by a drunk driver. Nina, Leo's sister, dies on impact. Leo doesn't remember the accident and East is keeping quiet about what he knows.

The book starts at the one year anniversary of the accident and backtracks as Leo starts to remember the accident more.

Robin Benway wrote such a great novel and threw in a twist I wasn't expecting. Just wow! 👏👏👏