How to Save a Life

Product Information

I really enjoyed the fast paced writing, I was gripped, and couldn't wait to keep reading more! I found myself thinking of the story, long after I had put it down for the day. It’s the quietness of Sara Zarr’s writing that completely undoes me. There’s a quality of stillness about it that lends her stories a kind of gravity. The language is clear and uncluttered, yet sometimes devastating in its emotional honesty. Zarr writes about the kind of things that feel almost seismic to us internally, while making barely a ripple in the world at large. She builds stories around relatable sentiments and all too common events – lives fragmented by pain, grief, abuse, and held together with fragile threads of hope and redemption. This book was sad and hard to read at times. Others it was funny and quirky. Mandy was a hard character for me to like. Jill was snarky, but atleast she had personality. The Mom's decision to not involve any lawyers or social services was just stupid in my opinion. Yes, everything works out magically in the end, but this entire deal was so unlikely. I really enjoyed this book, but there were so so so many times I wanted to grab the characters and shake them and say what are you doing?! Why are you okay with this?! And I know that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to, but there were times I just wanted things to go so differently for these three! But I guess that just shows how invested I was in the characters.

Dylan and Ravi were my favourite characters in this story. They were so strong and caring and patient and so sweet and provided most of the comic relief. They were the boys you wish were in every YA book, because they also weren’t afraid to call Jill out when she was being a Grade A so and so.I truly loved seeing the journey of enemies-to-friends; it was such a natural, realistic transition. The characters were flawed and imperfect, and the alternating narration between Amanda and Jill offered an in-depth understanding of them both. There's also a love story incorporated that I simply adored! I wanted to find out what happened to Jill and Mandy and I wanted to fast forward to a couple of years’ time and find out if they got the ending they so desperately wanted and needed.

I really liked the 3 point of views that switch from Kerry, Joel and Tim. The story starts when Kerry saves Joel's life when he goes into cardiac arrest. The story then follows on from that night in 1999 to 18 years later. I enjoyed the ending but I did find the final conflict was wrapped up a bit too easily and conveniently! I also liked how this gave you actual CPR tips throughout. everyone in the main cast had some messy stuff going on here except for sandra oh, love that for her. and love that she got out on her own terms, with a happy ending for crisitna and followed this up with more successes. ellen could never relate. How to save a life tells of three protagonists- teenagers when we meet them - and weaves their life stories over decades as we see them love, lose, fail and continue to carry on. As the lives of these two girls blend, they are faced with new challenges and discover new things like the fear the future holds and the strength and support that comes from family.

Kerry and Tim are best mates, destined to be doctors. Out celebrating New Years Eve with the rest of their classmates just before they take their exams, suddenly their class mate Joel goes into cardiac arrest. The promising footballer and Kerry's secret crush, is just lying there while his friends panic. Kerry immediately dives into action and begins to perform CPR for 18 minutes, whilst Tim is frozen to the spot. What the three teenagers don't realise, is the impact those crucial 18 minutes will have on the rest of their lives. The medical side of things was incredibly interesting and well researched. I found it fascinating and it was a great hook for each character as they had their own dealings with medicine and how their own lives are saved both literally and metaphorically.