Deborah's Books: Review: Wherever You Go by Heather Davis

Monday, August 22, 2011

Review: Wherever You Go by Heather Davis

From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Holly Mullen has felt lost and lonely ever since her boyfriend, Rob, died in a tragic accident. The fact that she has to spend most of her free time caring for her little sister and Alzheimer’s-stricken grandfather doesn’t help. But Holly has no idea that as she goes about her days, Rob’s ghost is watching over her. He isn’t happy when he sees his best friend, Jason, reach out to help Holly with her grandfather—but as a ghost, he can do nothing to stop it. Is his best friend really falling for his girlfriend?

As Holly wonders whether to open her heart to Jason, the past comes back to haunt her. Her grandfather claims to be communicating with the ghost of Rob. Could the messages he has for Holly be real? And if so, how can the loved ones Rob left behind help his tortured soul make it to the other side?

Told from the perspectives of Holly, Jason, and Rob,Wherever You Go is is a poignant story about making peace with the past, opening your heart to love, and finding the courage to move forward into the light.

***

Wherever You Go was a lot of things to me. It was a sweet love story, it was a creepy stalker story, it was a frustrating story of a girl who is, for all intents and purposes, still a kid and has to take on adult roles. I thought it was fantastic.

I loved how every character's point of view is told in a different way. That makes it easy to slip from character to character, though sometimes the transition was a bit like a speed bump.

There are so many morals to this story, but it doesn't feel crowded. I thought Holly's grandpa was a perfect cohesive element.

One of the things I loved the best about the book is that there's a secret. A dark secret that is only hinted at for a while. Then the clues start to build and you find out the secret and it's like the light flashes on. It was really cool. In fact, while I was reading it, I was telling my sister-in-law about the book, and I specifically said, "I think there's a secret, but I'm not sure what it is. I think it could be this..." and she and I got speculating.

There was underage drinking, some swearing, some sexual references.