[Review] The Impossible Knife of Memory; Laurie Halse Anderson

Release Date: January 7 2014

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Format: eBook

Summary from Goodreads:

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

What I Thought: I really really really liked this book. I liked the perspective on YA- Hayley's father was a huge part of the story which doesn't usually happen, and his friends/partners were also named characters with actual storylines. As I get older and further out of the YA target age range, I start to find myself wondering where the hell the parents are, and this book didn't make me feel that way. There was also some actual perspective from the dad's point of view, which was great.

I also really like that while, yes, overall, this was a love story, there wasn't a triangle or a "will-they-won't-they" aspect to it. Hayley didn't sit around waiting for the phone to ring, and for the most part, Finn didn't make her.

Hayley, Finn and Andy all had real actual life issues, that had to be dealt with in real actual life ways and I liked that.

Read this if: you're done with silly boy/girl games, if you wonder where the hell the parents are, and if you aren't triggered by war/talk of war. 

Out of 5☆: 4/5

This book was 5/100 for 2014