Book Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Saving June by Hannah Harrington

ebook, 304 pages

Published November 22nd 2011 by Harlequin (first published May 1st 2011)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When her older sister commits suicide and her divorcing parents decide to divide the ashes, Harper Scott takes her sister's urn to the one place June always wanted to go: California. On the road with her best friend, plus an intriguing guy with a mysterious connection to June, Harper discovers truths about her sister, herself and life.


     Utterly and an annoyingly beautiful art. Yes, it can be described as an ART in appreciation of all the music it mentioned and the story is geniously crafted. It’s annoying mainly because of all the anti-everything and pessimisms radiated off in the first half of the book, but good things come to those who wait. Hot stuff is waiting on the second half. The hype peaked and the story unsettled me in so many ways possible. I really like novels that challenge a part of me but I still enjoy and learn from it.

    The main character, Harper, is truly a one-of-a-kind character I’ve read of all time. Usually, there are many characters I’ve read who are so common, they’re stupid and make lots of stupid decisions, they are funny, bad-ass, etc, but this is the first time I’ve met a character with a mix of Harper’s attitude and character. She’s not so in love with her life, just the “barely there” kind of student, she’s the one being compared to her perfect sister, she’s not socially inept but she’s not very comfortable in a crowd either. She’s just not your ordinary girl, she’s so different, I can’t say more of this, but when you read the novel, you’ll know what I’m talking about. So when her perfect sister committed suicide, her world was shaken up. This novel is a story of how Harper ventures to California with mysterious Jake and her BFF and only friend Laney, to fulfill what her sister has dreamed of- live in California, but only this time, it’s her urn that gets to be there. I love every adventure and backpacking and road trips, especially when I read about them, and basically this one’s one of those novels. Life is a trip we all take, and down the road, Harper starts to unfold of herself and learns more of her that hasn’t been out of the box since it was buried. She surprisingly discovers her inner self and after the deed of releasing her sister’s urn and scattered it in San Francisco bay, she was also somehow free. Just free and liberated.

     Oh yes, subtly, a love story was inserted. It wasn’t pressed and forced, it came out naturally, and that’s what made this piece of work beautiful. The romance wasn’t the main story, but without it, the essence of the story isn’t formed. It’s there but it’s also vital. It’s one of the reasons how Harper came undone. I actually like how Harper & Jake developed their feelings. It was simple and reformed. I like.

     I love the MUSIC parts. They confused the whole lot of me, but I was educated, so I’m a happy person. But to be honest, at the start, I was like “Okay, so there are songs mentioned, cool.”. Then later on, all these songs and singers and bands are mentioned, and I’m like “what the hell? who are these freaking ‘epic’ guys Jake’s talking about?”. Then, as the story goes on, I eventually adapt to the strangeness of everything, and reading the singers are not just added detail to the story, but they give something to me. I like.

    However, Not all things are bed of roses though, I hate some things on this novel too (thus, the not perfect 5). I hate the parts where the stuffs I actually believe in are mocked or hated by Harper. Fate, God, basically all things good. I don’t like as well how Christianity was presented here, as if the author’s an atheist and okay, I feel like it’s prejudiced. In my own opinion, I’m not being biased here, but isn’t it when you write books and things and topics that have deeper philosophical obligations are mentioned, ethics must be clearly shown and the stuffs are respected. Although in the end, I like how this was mended by the author by how Harper’s perspective in life changed too... Other than that, I’m good with the book. The second half gets better actually.

     The novel. It’s how we take on life and their challenges. "Saving June” it says everything about the story. You won’t quite get why the title is what it is, but as you near the end, you’ll get it. It’s amazing actually. The ending was just sound and perfect.

     In the end, this book is definitely one of those that changed me. I’m now more in love and dedicated with my music, (just me listening to the music, not actually making them,haha). I’m more grounded and I am actually so influenced by Jake, I’ll try to make his “mixes” and make a playlist on it. LOVE IT!


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