Thursday, May 03, 2012

Review: See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles


Title: See You at Harry's
Author: Jo Knowles
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release date: May 8th 2012
Pages: 320
Genre: MG; contemporary
Source: NetGalley - thank you to Candlewick and NetGalley for providing a free eGalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Find out more: Amazon | Goodreads


Goodreads description:
Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. It seems as though everyone in her family has better things to do than pay attention to her: Mom (when she's not meditating) helps Dad run the family restaurant; Sarah is taking a gap year after high school; and Holden pretends that Mom and Dad and everyone else doesn't know he's gay, even as he fends off bullies at school. Then there's Charlie: three years old, a "surprise" baby, the center of everyone's world. He's devoted to Fern, but he's annoying, too, always getting his way, always dirty, always commanding attention. If it wasn't for Ran, Fern's calm and positive best friend, there'd be nowhere to turn. Ran's mantra, "All will be well," is soothing in a way that nothing else seems to be. And when Ran says it, Fern can almost believe it's true. But then tragedy strikes- and Fern feels not only more alone than ever, but also responsible for the accident that has wrenched her family apart. All will not be well. Or at least all will never be the same.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


I loved Jo Knowles's Jumping Off Swings and Lessons from a Dead Girl, so I knew the writing and execution of this book would be great. But I didn't know whether See You at Harry's would work for me personally, since it's MG and not YA - I know a lot of people don't mind, but I don't usually like reading books where the main character is a lot younger than me. In See You at Harry's, though, that wasn't a problem, and I ended up loving it!


I don't want to say too much about the plot. I went in knowing almost nothing about this book, and I really think that's the best way to enjoy it - knowing what the "tragedy" is would have taken a lot from it. So I'll do my best not to spoil anything.


Like I said, I was worried about not being able to connect with the main character because of our age difference, but I ended up loving Fern. She has a distinct voice and you can't help but feel for her. She reminded me a lot of myself when I was that age. Except, you know, I never had to deal with anything like she has to deal with.


I love how family-focused See You at Harry's is. Each member of the family has a complex and dynamic personality. I love how the kids are all named after literary characters - such great symbolism! Charlie is adorable, of course, and I loved Holden. I really like how the topic of his sexuality is handled. I couldn't immediately understand Sarah, but she, too, grew on me. The dad is so, so sweet. The only character I wish we could have known some more about is the mom, but I guess us not seeing as much of her is kind of the point.


Fern's friends, Ran and Cassie, are great characters, too. Ran is adorable. His family owns a company that sells these awesome t-shirts that Ran is always wearing, and I loved those - I want shirts like that, too! The dynamics between Ran, Fern and Cassie are great, but I like that the family stayed the main focus of the novel.


The emotions are what's best about See You at Harry's. Again, I can't say too much, but...wow. I've read a lot of books dealing with grief, but for some reason, they always start after the loved one has already died, and I like that in See You at Harry's, we get to be with the family before, during and after the accident. That made the emotions that much more raw. I cried so much while reading See You at Harry's. Not, like, holding back a few tears, but full-out bawling. Seriously, I think I was crying for more than half of the time while reading this book. Jo Knowles just has a way of pulling at my heartstrings with every word she writes. All the sadness nearly killed me. But I love how at the end, we get to see it's not all sad - the ending restores your hope without being too happy and unrealistic.


***This paragraph contains spoilers!!!***
All the relationships between the different members of the family are great, but there is one thing I didn't really get - Charlie's role in the family. It's mentioned a few times that Charlie is the star of the family, that everyone loves him so, so much, and that the parents take care of him in a way they never took care of Fern (according to Fern). There are a few times when Fern talks about how she's jealous of Charlie because of that - I remember, in particular, how when Fern and Charlie used to share a room, and their parents came in to check on Charlie at night, Fern wishes the mom would, for once, check on her, too. So it looks like the typical youngest-child-gets-all-the-attention kind of thing. But, at the same time, it seems like the parents never have time for Charlie - he's always asking Fern to play with him because no one else will, and after the accident, the whole family feels guilty for not having spent more time with him. Combining those two ideas just didn't make much sense to me.


I loved See You at Harry's, and I'm very impressed by Jo Knowles's writing - she's quickly turning into one of my favorite authors! With raw, heartbreaking emotion, See You at Harry's is a beautiful portrayal of how one tragic accident can tear a family apart - and how you could possibly put it back together again. Read it if you're in the mood for some crying!


If you've read this book, what did you think?

11 comments:

  1.  I love how you could so easily identify with a younger character in a theme-heavy book - it really shows that emotions and feelings are universal and that connecting to others based on our commonality is a strong way to hook readers.

    This sounds like it touches on so many issues that affect people no matter how old they are. And that's also a great way to get readers who wouldn't usually pick up this kind of book.

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  2. Is this awfully sad? Or does it have some lighter moments as well?

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  3. Umm... both, I guess. It's really, really sad - I bawled my eyes out. But it has lighter moments, too, and it's definitely not the hopeless kind of sad - there's a sense of hope, of life left to live (I know, corny - sorry), which made it worth it, for me.

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  4. If it's like The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (of course for a younger audience) which was very sad but also there was like you said hope for the characters, then that's fine. 

    What I find too sad is The Fault in Our Stars. I love John Green, but it was too sad.

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  5. Hmmm... I honestly don't know whether See You at Harry's is TFIOS-sad or TSIE-sad... I loved all three, but I like sad books, so I'm not the best judge. I think maybe See You at Harry's is closer to The Sky Is Everywhere, but that might just be because the subject matter is more similar, since in TFIOS, it's about the MC dying, too, which isn't a topic in The Sky Is Everywhere or See You at Harry's. If that's what made TFIOS too sad for you, I think See You at Harry's would still work for you, but honestly, I'm not sure...

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  6. Great review, Hannah! I didn't read the spoiler part though. I haven't really read a family book like this especially it centers around a younger voice! I think this book is for everyone since it's a family book. I mean, no matter how young or old the main character is, if he/she is dealing with family issues, at some point, we'll be able to connect since we have our own families in our real life so it's not really hard to feel the character's pain even if we haven't had the same tragedy experience. If this is a sad book, I think it's the kind of sad you feel for your family when something bad happens. I'm very curious as to what the tragedy is! Will read this. :)

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  7. Thanks for clarifying! At least it's (somewhat) less of a tear-jerker!

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  8. Great review, Hannah! I didn't read the spoiler part though. I haven't really read afamily book like this especially it centers around a younger voice. I think this book is for everyone since it's a family book. I mean, no matter how young or old the main character is, if he/she is dealing with family issues, at some point, we'll be able to connect with him/her since we have our own families in our real life so it's not really hard to feel the character's pain even if we haven't had the same tragedy. I think it's the kind of sad you feel for your family when something bad happens. I'm very curious as to what the tragedy is. Will read this! :)

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  9. I have had Jumping Off Swings on my to-read list for a long time so I recognized the author.   This book just got added to my list too.  It looks pretty serious and kind of sad, but I like books that touch the heart so I'm excited to read this one. 

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  10. Jumping Off Swings is great, too - basically, I love everything Jo Knowles writes. Jumping Off Swings is a lot more mature than See You at Harry's, but both are great, in their own way.

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  11. I've been looking for good MG novels - I haven't read any since my own MG days and sometimes I just crave books where the biggest problem is simplistic things! The cover of this book is gorgeous and it sounds like the story is too!

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