I read Emmy & Oliver by this author and was expecting nothing but the best from this book. And that's exactly what I got. Robin Benway has the amazing ability to create a world that is real, that will have you so immersed it's like you're a part of it. You've known these characters for years, you're sharing their laughs and joys and also their tough times. When their heart breaks so does yours. This book truly made me feel like I lost a friend when Nina died. And the way it happened was just so damn sad. Who is chopping onions around here? ( )

How do you go on after the death of a loved one? This story is told in reverse order, from the 1 year anniversary of Leo’s sister’s death to the day of the accident. The grief is deep & relatable. As time moves backwards, the readers sees, not just how the protagonist Leo, grieves, but everyone else: Mom/Dad/Step-Mom and East, Nina’s boyfriend. The reader learns How they all were able to come to some semblance of “back to normal” on the anniversary and travels backwards through this grief process. There was a bit of a twist at the end, one that helped me to understand the behavior of East a little more. Get the tissues out for this one!

TW: depression, anxiety, death, anger ( )

I have read a few novels by Robin Benway and I have to say that "A Year to the Day" has been my favourite so far by this author. I loved the bond between Leo and her older sister, Nina. East, Nina's boyfriend, was also a wonderful character. However, my favourite was Denver, Leo's pet corgi - he was just gorgeous!

The story is told in reverse chronological order which I am never a fan of. I always want to start at the last chapter and read back to the first. Despite this, "A Year to the Day" was a well-written story dealing with grief and losing a loved one. It was raw and full of emotion, and my heart bled for Leo and East. ( )

A year ago, Leo's older sister Nina was killed in a car crash that Leo and Nina's boyfriend East survived. East remembers the details of the accident but won't tell Leo, who doesn't remember anything. The story is told in reverse chronological order, and while Leo never regains her memory, the reader gets the scene of the accident. The unique structure lends some tension and mystery to a story whose end readers know at the start. Leo and East's grief is real on the page, as is Leo's mom, her dad, and her (excellent, stereotype-breaking) stepmom Stephanie, who gets pregnant in the year after Nina's death.

See also: We Were Liars by e. lockhart, Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen

Quotes

"I know Nina wouldn't want me to be sad, but it's like I don't know how to be happy without her." (Leo to her dad, 29)

"Love doesn't just disappear once someone's gone. Right?" (Leo to Stephanie, 46)

The sound of a siren still sets her teeth on edge, makes her entire body tense up and wait for something that has already, tragically happened. (93)

...when she's alone at night, Leo can pretend, and pretending at night is what gets her through the days. (116)

"I know you can't remember, but I can't forget." (East to Leo, 137)

"No. You do not get to apologize to me for something that you could fix if you wanted to." (Leo to East, 157)

Grief is a language they don't have to speak. It communicates just fine on its own. (196)

The problem with the worst thing happening to you, Leo thinks, is that it makes every other scary thought not just possible but suddenly, menacingly probable... (197-198)

"People want you to rush through grief so that they can feel better. Don't let them do that to you, okay?" (East to Leo, 209)

She needs the glasses like they had had during the last solar eclipse, something to shield her from the blinding pain of someone else's white-hot grief. (270)

"We all grieve differently. Nobody's doing it wrong." (East to Leo, 279) ( )

Buckets of sadness, loss, and regret in this story. Leo and her sister Nina were returning from a party with East, Nina's boyfriend what they were hit by a drunk driver. Nina died and Leo and East, along with her parents and stepmom, are still struggling with what happened and how to move on. Told in reverse chronology starting one year from the accident, readers get to experience the depth of emptiness both Leo and East feel. That process, for me, overshadowed the revelation at the end of the story. ( )