If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L Armentrout ~ Review

Lena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, especially at the start of her senior year. She's ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, to finish college applications and to maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him. For Lena, the upcoming year is going to be epic—one of opportunities and chances. 

Until one choice, one moment, destroys everything. 

Now Lena isn't looking forward to tomorrow. Not when friend time may never be the same. Not when college applications feel all but impossible. Not when Sebastian might never forgive her for what happened. 

For what she let happen. 

With the guilt growing each day, Lena knows that her only hope is to move on. But how can she move on when her and her friends' entire existences have been redefined? How can she move on when tomorrow isn't even guaranteed?

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This book is amazing.  Jennifer's ability to capture the voice of YA is so masterfully and at the same time she weaves a relevant and captivating story.  Pure perfection. 

I loved these characters.  Lena is a book nerd who reads more than she talks to people.  Her group of friends have dragged her into the world of the living by getting her to play volleyball and hang out with them.  Her very best friend, the boy next door, Sebastian is her secret love.  She's looking forward to her senior year and thinking about her tomorrows.  Her relationship with her father is nonresistant.  Her live is normal.  I'm amazed how well this author captures the voice of a high school girl with a secret love and a love of books.

And then there is Sebastian.  He plays football but it's really his father that wants that.  Popular and talented, everyone is friends with him but his best friend is the girl next door who he met when they were eight.  He sneaks in her room at night and they talk.  They will always be best friends.  But what I love the most about Sebastian is his understanding, his compassion because when his very best friend needs him he's there despite her pushing him away.

I love the rest of the gang too.  Megan, Abbi and Dary all make this pack of friends that are quirky and fun.  From the lectures to get Lena a boyfriend to the dragging her out from behind the pages of books, I loved them all.  

Lena's family felt real too.  From her sister away at college, to her mother trying to hold them together and the distant father that just was, well distant.  It all rang true.

Then there is the story.  This book will suck you in quickly but you know something is coming.  The prologue lets you know that.  So I read on the edge of my seat, waiting.  And of course, it hit me unexpectedly.  There I was laying in an emotional mess when I realized what happened.  What this story is really about.  The pain felt real because they were friends to me.

I admit to taking a lot longer than I normally would to finish this book.  I needed to take it in chunks after that.  It's emotional and heartbreaking.  I wanted to crawl inside the covers of the book and pull people together for hugs.  But whenever I put it down to take a break, it called me back.  I read a chapter at lunch or another before bed.  I couldn't stay away long.  I needed to know.

And just as there are no easy answers in life, so this book worked through life to find a place of normal again.  A place where there could be hope again.  But still the promise of a tomorrow is never a guarantee and this book captures that very well.  

While this book is emotional, I wouldn't miss it for the world.  It hit me hard but it was also healing in a real sense.  It's the kind of book that speaks across age, gender and every other possible difference we might have.  It speaks of life.  It speaks of healing.  

Do not miss it.