Willow by Julia Hoban

Willow by Julia Hoban
Read: 3/5/11-3/6/11

Bought, Won, Got from local library, Got as a gift

Amount of hearts i give it: ♥♥♥♥♥ (perfect score)
Synopsis:
Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow’s parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow is blocking the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when one boy—one sensitive, soulful boy—discovers Willow’s secret, it sparks an intense relationship that turns the “safe” world Willow has created for herself upside down.
Told in an extraordinary fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girl’s struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boy’s refusal to give up on her.
My thoughts:
All I can say about this book is that I am in love. Completely and irrevocably, in love with this book. Willow is damaged beyond repair. She believes that she is responsible for her parent's death because she was the one who was driving. (the parents were drinking and for some reason thought it appropriate for poor Willow to drive, with only a permit, no less!) Now, Willow's only salvation, to her, is cutting. She cuts her arms, her legs, her stomach. She can't get away from the monster, can't get close to anyone, and feels she's lost her brother's love. It seems that no one can save her, and then she meets Guy. So, the first thing I fell in love with, was the narration. It is in third person, present tense. So it reads like "Willow does this" and "Willow wonders if she..." & such. For some reason it really adds to the story and makes you feel like you're inside Willow's head, even though you're really not. No one can get inside her mind, not even the reader! I also fell in love with Willow herself. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her it wasn't her fault. Because I knew it wasn't her fault. I found myself being angry with her parents for most of the story, because these people were supposed to be intelligent professors. How could they allow their sixteen year old to drive them home in the rain? Drunk or not? I wanted to tell Willow that it wasn't her fault, because I believed the root of it was her parents' fault, even though that sounds wrong, after all, you shouldn't speak ill of the (fictional) dead, but STILL. Please tell me I'm not alone!I fell in love with Guy, most of all. He was the perfect, perfect, guy. I had to stop reading a few times in order to swallow the cuteness. I wanted him to be my boyfriend, probably more than anything. I was happy that he never was able to give up on Willow, because it seemed like he was all she had. The only person she couldn't push away. I thought that they're relationship was beautiful and heartwarming. No, not heartwarming - heart MELTING. They seemed like that happily ever after type.I will not tell the ending, but I will say that not much was resolved, but I think that's the most realistic and believeable way it could've been. Things that Willow has to deal with do not get solved over night, sometimes it takes years...a happily ever after end would just take away from the whole story. ">So, i'm pretty sure you need to read this. Now. Okay? Bye.