Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Publisher: Harlequin
Publishing Date: November 22nd, 2011
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 336 pgs
ISBN: 9780373210244

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary from GoodReads: 

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.

My Review:
I received this book on NetGalley for review and I really enjoyed it.  The book is a contemporary that blends tear jerking moments, teen angst, road trips, mixed tapes, and finding oneself all in one book. Harper Scott is struggling to come to terms with the fact that her sister, June, committed suicide.  Throughout much of the book Harper seems rather detached about her sister's death and can at times be rather tempermental. 
I thought that Harrington did a good job of showing grief in a different way than just sheer sadness and depression.  I also really enjoyed the road trip part of this book.  I love that with each stop on their journey Harper learns more and more about herself and in the doing that she is able to learn more and more about her sister.  I have to admit to crying just a little bit at certain parts of this book.  I could not put this book down and it only took me a day to read.  I would most definitely recommend this book to those who love YA and contemporary reads.  My only gripe about this book is that they threw in a romance.  I am not sure that I would be ready to start a relationship or to fall in love with someone mere weeks after my sister's death.  That is one thing about some YA that irks me a bit.  I don't think that it is necessary to always have a romance involved in every book especially when it is a book that is already dealing with death and finding oneself.  Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.