In the Hope of Memories by Olivia Rivers

Title: In the Hope of Memories

Author: Olivia Rivers

Publication: March 21st, 2016

Publisher: Red Sparrow Press

Read: November 3rd, 2016

Summary:

Hope is dying. Hope Jackson has lived her short life to the fullest, but her four closest friends are dangling on the brink of disaster. Right before dying of a rare heart condition, Hope sets up a scavenger hunt across New York City using her graffiti art. The directions she leaves her friends are simple: Solve the clues hidden in her art, and they’ll solve the problems haunting their lives. Hope is dead. Two days after her heart fails, Hope’s friends are thrown together: Aiden, her best friend, whose plans to attend college have been scattered by his OCD. Kali, her foster sister, whose last ties to sanity are as razor-thin as her anorexic waistline. Erik, her high school crush, whose success as an athlete is based on a lie with no end in sight. And Sam, her online pen-pal, whose perfect life exploded into chaos in the aftermath of a school bombing. Together, the four teens take to the streets of New York to complete Hope’s scavenger hunt and fulfill her dying wishes. But in order to unravel the clues hidden in Hope’s graffiti, her friends will need to confront their personal demons head on. Hope is within reach.

My Review:

Lou's mind stars: ✭✭✭✭✭

This is a book I first heard about by my bestbookfriend - and I know that I can trust her tastes - so I look at the summary and was instantly drown to it. I contacted the author who was looking for reviewers at that time and she sent me the ARC not long after. In early March actually but it took me a long time to actually open it. The same friend who talked to me about this book told me that it had subjects which would upset me so I decided to put the story on hold as long as I was sure I would be unable to deal with them.

I picked up the book earlier this month after a few bad books and I honestly wasn't ready to read it yet but I still went into it and I wasn't disappointed. I cried, quite a lot but at the end, I was filled with hope because this is what this story does to you. It makes you realize that no matter what hardship you're going through, no matter how dark your days are, there is still hope at the end. It may take longer than you think, but one daym, you will reach it the end of the tunnel.

Now, back to the story. We have four adolescents, all damaged to some extent, who don't know each other despite having heard of each other (minus one) and reunited for a scavenger hunt by their deceased friend. It may sound weird said like this but as the story unfolded, I could see what was the link between them and what made Hope thought that they were good for each other because they are. They fight, there are some difficult times and some difficult words but in the end, they're still united.

I could relate to the characters. Kali and Aiden are the one I felt the closest to but since the beginning, although I liked all the characters, Aiden was the one I felt the more for.

I had some troubles reading Sam's chapters because of the way they are written but it is related to what happened to them so I understand why the author choose to write them like that. It brings you closer to them in a way. You will have to read the book to understand what I am referring to.

All in all, it was a very good book and definitely one of my Top 5 favorite books of the year despite all the demons it has woken up during the reading of it. Thank to the author for delivering us such a touching, beautiful story. I will definitely check more of her works in the next year.

*book received from the author for an honest review*

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