Anything For You

Published:  April 10th, 2014

Mayday

By: Jonathan Friesen

Speak

ISBN-13:  9780142412299

Why'd I do it?  I suppose it's the only question that really matters.

Seventeen-year-old Crow will stop at nothing to protect her younger sister -- even if it costs her her own life.  But then she's given a chance to come back and make things right.  There are a few catches, though.  First, she won't come back as herself.  And before she can set things straight, she'll have to figure out what's what -- and things aren't exactly as clear-cut as she remembered.

Review

     Crow has been protecting her younger sister Addy from any harm, ever since she can remember.  It started when their father left, and the girls' mother got involved with a seemingly nice Doctor.  Crow doesn't trust him, and it turns out to be for a good reason.  Now as teenagers, Crow is still trying to protect Addy, this time from a boy she thinks just wants to use her good-hearted sister.  This time Crow winds up in a coma, between the paths of life and death.  She's granted a walkabout, a chance to make things right in her own life.  Crow uses it as another chance to go back as someone else and protect Addy.  But can she actually change anything that's happened in the past?  And how can she stop her own bitterness and pain from devouring what's left of her soul whole?

     I liked the characters in this one.  In a way, Crow reminded me of myself.  Always trying to fix things for other people and never having a life for herself.  But during the walkabout, Crow is given a chance to look back at her life through new eyes and realize that nothing is quite as black and white as she had originally thought.  I liked that Crow got to go back and interact with her younger self.  First as a middle-school-aged girl named Shane, and then as a teenaged boy named Shane.  She's there on the pretext of protecting Addy.  But then she really starts to get a look at herself and the things that she's done, how she has nothing other than her sister.  She starts to care about younger Crow and finds herself trying to save, well, herself right along with Addy.  I liked the ending and while the idea that she couldn't stop some of the bad things from happening might piss off some people, I like that she realized that maybe Addy didn't need as much saving as her own soul did.  Kind of a beautiful concept and I liked the realizations.  The only thing that weirded me out a little was the slight Shane/Crow romance.

VERDICT:  3.5/5 Stars

*I reviewed this book as part of Around the World ARC Tours, run by the lovely Princess Bookie.  No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book was published April 10th, 2014.*