Book Review: There Will Come a Time

There Will Come a Time

By: Carrie Arcos

Published by: Simon Pulse

Release date: April 15, 2014

Genre: YA contemporary

256 pages

Buy it at Amazon, IndieBound, Book Depository, or Barnes & Noble

Source: ARC kindly provided by publisher

I must start this review by saying that this contemporary made me cry. Not sweet little rolling tears, either- I’m talking the kind of cry that makes your skin blotchy and your eyes swollen. The kind that makes children ask you what’s wrong.

Therein lies the beauty.

There Will Come a Time is a frank, honest portrayal of a teen in grief. What’s unique is that the teen is male, and that he’s grieving for his twin sister rather than a romantic interest. Additionally, the main character isn’t another typical white kid- he’s Filipino. Points for telling the story from a fresh, interesting perspective.

Mark was driving the night his twin sister Grace died in a car accident. Months later, he’s angry, detached from his loved ones, and desperately missing Grace. He’s supported by a cast of characters who are kind and understanding: Hanna, the neighbor girl who used to have sleepovers with Grace, Sebastian, the fellow band nerd who gives Mark a ride to and from school, River, the boy Grace was dating, and Lily, the girl who has been there and done that. Mark’s dad and step-mom are just as great as his real mom isn’t, and his little sister is her own brand of adorable. It will take every single one of these people to pull Mark through this.

Mark and his friends decide to honor Grace by taking on a to-do list that they found in one of Grace’s journals. Mark finds, in each experience, a moment of feeling a little closer to Grace once again- followed by a fresh loss, a growing gap between her in the past and himself in the present. One particular scene late in the book was the kicker for me- Mark finally has a conversation that he has been both pursuing and avoiding. Seeing the pain behind the mask of a boy trying desperately to maintain the appearance of having it all together is gut-wrenching, yet rings so true that it’s beautiful.  

This book is good stuff. I will be finding out what other projects this author has in the works, and adding it all to my tbr list. 

Summary:

Mark knows grief. Ever since the accident that killed his twin sister, Grace, the only time he feels at peace is when he visits the bridge on which she died. Comfort is fleeting, but it’s almost within reach when he’s standing on the wrong side of the suicide bars. Almost.

Grace’s best friend, Hanna, says she understands what he’s going through. But she doesn’t. She can’t. It’s not just the enormity of his loss. As her twin, Mark should have known Grace as well as he knows himself. Yet when he reads her journal, it’s as if he didn’t know her at all.

As a way to remember Grace, Hanna convinces Mark to complete Grace’s bucket list from her journal. Mark’s sadness, anger, and his growing feelings for Hannah threaten to overwhelm him. But Mark can’t back out. He made a promise to honor Grace—and it’s his one chance to set things right.