Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: YA - Contemporary
How I Obtained Said Book: Library
Series: Stand-alone novel
The Blurb: (from Goodreads)
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.
Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.
The Review: (This review will contain a minimum number of spoilers. Ha ha, bet you didn't see that coming...)
Seventeen year old Hadley's father is just about to be remarried to a British woman in England. Despite her obvious hatred for the marriage, Hadley decides to listen to her mother's insisting pleas and fly by herself to England to attend their wedding. But several things happen that change the course of her journey: 1) She misses her flight by four minutes. 2) She meets a British boy named Oliver. 3) Her next flight to England is the same flight as Oliver, and they are sitting in the same row. The relationship that comes to be from these events and this one particular encounter will change Hadley's reflection on her family, first love, and perhaps
her overall outlook on life.
I thought this book was wonderfully truthful when it came to showing the aftermath of divorce and death, when it comes to the people affected by them. I also thought this book was poignant, amusing, and startling (why the title of the book is what it is, for example; and no, it doesn't necessarily mean that Hadley and Oliver shared a "love at first sight" sort of thing, because if they had, then this review would've turned out a lot differently). All of this was made possible by Hadley's "voice" and personality. I mean, there are preppy YA contemporary main characters and there are the calm, sensible kind, and Hadley definitely falls in the second category (although there are definitely many more categories than just those two). And I liked that, I really did. I enjoy reading about calm, sensible characters. The thing is though, Hadley isn't completely like this throughout the whole entire novel. Some parts--like the words she said to her mother right before going to the airport, and how she behaved during the plane ride--definitely did not suit the whole "calm, sensible" sort of description. But you know, that was perfectly cool with me as well.
And then there's Oliver. Oh, Oliver. I'm not really a sucker for guys with accents; accents are pretty sweet and everything, but I'm not going to automatically like you if you have a super cool accent (I might be a tiny bit jealous though :P). However, even if Oliver hadn't possessed a super cool accent, I'd wager that a bunch of the readers would have liked him anyway. He's charming. There really isn't a better word for it, I mean. He made me crack a smile so many times throughout the book, and during the parts he wasn't present, I found that I really missed him.
The book itself is set in a period of twenty four hours, which upon first glance might make you doubt the plot's credibility, but no worries, it's perfectly credible. Transitions between each part were lovely and smooth, and oh, the pacing of the book was great: a little bit of Hadley, a little bit of Oliver, and a bit of Hadley's family all mixed together. Perfectly proportioned as well. So you know, it's pretty great.
In Conclusion...!
The Stat of Love wasn't necessarily as poignant or deep as The Fault in Our Stars but it was poignant and deep enough. It's a considerably quick read: honestly, the two hundred pages flew by so quickly, when I read the last page I thought, "Okay...wait. Seriously? This is it?" Which could be both good and bad, I suppose, but in my opinion it's very, very good.
Rating: 8 - Hey there. I think I'll read you again another time.
- E
P.S. Chapter 3 of A Rush of Needles is finally finally up. Please review? ^-^
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