A single choice can change everything. 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 she and her friends’ entire existences have been redefined? How can she move on when tomorrow isn’t even guaranteed?
I finished If There's No Tomorrow a few weeks ago and it’s still vivid and transfixed in my mind. I recorded my first ever YouTube spoiler rant about it and it sucks and I'm stumbling all over what to say, but I've got to start somewhere (you can see below). To sum the video up I was happily thrown off on what this story was truly about. I felt like the main focus of this story was guilt and grieve instead of a cheesy love story. One quote I noted was, "It lessened some of the suffocating weight I carried by finally opening up to a counselor." The book advocated to not fold into yourself after a tragedy happens and how finally saying it out loud helps to heal. I don’t read book blurbs because I immediately start to assume the story line and I like to go in with no preconceived ideas. Sadly, on this one I still assumed that it’d be similar to the movie, If I Stay, so I thought I had it all figured out and I was expecting a stereotypical comma followed by a love story. That was not the case. This was actually a very powerful read about forgiveness, healing, how helpful therapy can be, and survivors guilt. I LOVED this and I’m just mad at myself for getting in the way with assuming I knew how the story would unfold. I LOVED that a story finally captured how easy it is to blame yourself when something goes wrong and that everyone else is in their heads finding ways to make it their fault too. If There's No Tomorrow encouraged being open and talking it out with others because each person involved somehow is struggling too and it's easier to heal together.
SPOILER RANT:
I was upset after the car accident and finding out who all died when I realized I didn't care. Those characters weren't developed enough to make me sad. I was just confused why SOOO many people had to die at the very beginning. Then as I continued on I realized the story had nothing to do with them and everything to do with the survivor's guilt and trying to move on with life after such a tragic experience.