If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L Armentrout
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
A single choice can change everything.
Lena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, especially at the start of her senior year. She’s ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, to finish college applications, and to maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him. For Lena, the upcoming year is going to be epic—one of opportunities and chances.
Until one choice, one moment, destroys everything.
Now Lena isn’t looking forward to tomorrow. Not when friend time may never be the same. Not when college applications feel all but impossible. Not when Sebastian might never forgive her for what happened.
For what she let happen.
With the guilt growing each day, Lena knows that her only hope is to move on. But how can she move on when she and her friends’ entire existences have been redefined? How can she move on when tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed?
MY OPINION: *****
I feel like it's been a long time since I've genuinely loved a book. I'm a HUGE fan of Jennifer L Armentrout (from the scant amount of books I've read by her) and this time was no different.
I'm going to legitimately start rating books by how much they can physically hurt me inside (i.e. the heart, the stomach, etc) and
evoke tears. For those of you who don't know, I don't really cry when reading for whatever reasons but I don't know if the book was that emotional or rather that I was just emotional as a person. Whatever the reason, I'm not going to lie: there were two or three tears streaming down my face.
Lena (love the name!) has had a huge crush on her best friend, Sebastian (!!), for years and years. When she "accidentally" kisses him by the lake, she's scared, angry, and hurt at his reaction (which is basically zero). She and Sebastian get into a fight, causing her to make a bad decision (maybe it wasn't the fight that really caused this but it was definitely a huge factor). She gets into a car with her friend, Cody, who she knows is drunk, behind the wheel.
Cue the disaster.
Cody, Lena's BFF Megan, Megan's cousin Chris, and Megan's sorta boyfriend Phillip all end up dead in this accident. Lena is the only one who survives.
We basically get a couple hundred pages of her grief and guilt and her coming to terms with what happened, all while a romance builds with her and Sebastian.
I'm ashamed to say that the part that made me cry was not the accident, though I came close when I thought about Cody. I don't care what y'all say: I loved that dude, player or not.
Instead, I cried during the "fight" scene after Sebastian and Lena grow closer. I don't know, something about guys' crying and the "hurt in their eyes" make my own eyes well up.
Sebastian was by far my favorite character. I don't think anybody is that nice in real life but really amazing fictional guys aren't too bad, if I do say so myself. He defends Lena, he loves her, he cares about her, and it's so sweet.
I'm reading another JLA book at the same time right now and I've noticed a lot of similarities between her writing of fantasy and her writing of contemporary novels and I really enjoy it.
Overall, this book was jampacked with drama, romance, and tragedy. I would recommend it to readers looking for a contemporary novel.
Main Character: Lena
Sidekick(s): Sebastian, Dary, Abbi, etc
Villain(s): Death, accidents, bad decisions, guilt, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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