Four Three Two One

by Courtney C. Stevens

“This is not a book about a tragedy. This is a book about survivors, and hope, and belief. I wish this book wasn’t necessary, but it is. Read it. And then pass it on.” —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces

“A whip-smart and deeply felt story about reclaiming life from the rubble of guilt and trauma, Four, Three, Two, One glows brilliantly with heart, humanity, and hope.” —Brendan Kiely, New York Times bestselling coauthor of All American Boys and author of Tradition

Golden “Go” Jennings wasn’t supposed to be on Bus 21 the day it blew up in New York City. Neither was her boyfriend, Chandler. But they were. And so was Rudy, a cute stranger Go shared a connection with the night before. And Caroline, a girl whose silence ended up costing nineteen people their lives.

Though it’s been a year since the bombing, Go isn’t any closer to getting over what happened. With Chan completely closed off to even talking about it, Go makes an impulsive decision: round up the rest of the survivors and head to New York City. There they will board an art installation made of the charred remnants of Bus 21 and hopefully reach some sort of resolution.

But things are never easy when it comes to rehashing the past. Uniting the four stirs up conflicting feelings of anger and forgiveness, and shows them that, although they all survived, they may still need saving.

• ISBN10: 0062398547
• ISBN13: 9780062398543
• Publish Date: 27 December 2018 (first published 13 November 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 22 August 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperTeen
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

I haven't been so enamored with a book in quite some time. This was such a freaking amazing book, and one I hadn't expected to hit me as hard as it did. And truth be told, I don't think that anything I can say will fully do it justice. Have you ever read a book and it just exuded a certain feeling? Drew you in, made you fall in love with the whole damn thing? Well, that's where we are here. So I am going to tell you a bunch of junk I liked about the book, while trying to explain that it is even more than the sum of these positives. Okay, here we go!

• •Female friendship that is just... everything I want in a girl bond. The relationship that Go had with Becky was just authentic as hell. Sure, it was messy sometimes, and complicated, but Becky was going to be there for Go no matter what. Go learned so much about herself and others from her relationship with Becky, and it was just healthy and a great representation of what friendships are really all about.



• •Loads of family stuff. Go's relationship with her parents was complicated at best. But also really realistic feeling, and full of love. But the best, the best relationship was the one Go had with her grandma. Gran reminded me of a combination of both of my grandmothers, who I love and adore more than just about anyone, so seeing her have this incredible relationship with hers was so freaking heartwarming.



• •Trials and tribulations of the aftermath of a trauma, but also of just life and growing up. So this is twofold, because each of these things on its own is awesome, but also when you add them together it's incredibly profound. Obviously, the ramifications of the bombing are numerous. You have survivor's guilt, regular guilt, trying to move on after, and so on. The story develops a lot as the friends travel on, and you get a lot of insight into the baggage that everyone is carrying. But, it's also about growing up in its own right. Growing apart from people you love, finding new people to love, and figuring out who and what you want to be. Obviously, navigating these two dynamics together makes for some powerful storytelling. 



• •The writing is simply lovely. I highlighted just a ton of passages. Some were beautiful, some were poignant, some were light-hearted and fun, but overall I found the writing to be such a huge plus in this book.



• •I cared for every single character. Even the more minor ones, everyone in the story truly served a purpose.

Bottom Line: Like I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg of awesomeness. It's just a story that you feel so deeply, one that I wholeheartedly recommend.

[Sam@WLABB]

Go, Chan, Caroline, and Rudy all lost something that day on the bus. While some scars were more obvious than others, each one was harboring some pain and guilt, which was holding them back. Go was hoping that facing her fears at the exhibit would help propel her forward, but maybe she, and all the other survivors, would find the strength they needed before they arrived in New York.

• Pro: This story was emotional and painful and wonderful. Stevens did such an incredible job helping me navigate the very complicated feelings these characters were experiencing, and I loved all the feels that were passed on to me.

• Pro: Survivor stories are always interesting to me. We automatically think of how lucky the they are, but I don't think one can fully understand the complex emotions at play for these people. Four Three Two One was such a thoughtful look at the baggage they were stuck with following the event. Each of these survivors was harboring some guilt related to the bombing, and seeing its impact on their lives was saddening.

• Pro: I thought the story was structured really well. The story was told predominately from Go's point of view in the present, but we also got some chapters from past and present Caroline, and even a little bit of Rudy's viewpoint via his written work. I felt like I got a good look in their heads, and a better understanding of what they were experiencing via this format.

• Pro: The characters were all so well drawn, super likable, and so easy to root for. I even grew to love and care for Caroline, even though she was (rightfully) angry and damaged, because she was just as well crafted as the other characters.

• Pro: There were two really great side characters: Go's grandmother and Becky. Gram was an encouraging and supportive voice, who didn't let fear force her to discourage Go's ambitions, and Becky! She was the sunshine and the cheerleader for this group of survivors. I think she was really important to the story too, because she was a non-survivor in the group, and being on the outside of it all allowed her to be objective and see things more clearly at times.

• Pro: Post explosion, the four survivors had to embrace their new futures. Things happened as a result of the event, which altered their futures, and some of them needed a little nudge to keep moving towards that new destination.

Overall: This was one fantastic non-road trip road trip. It was a beautiful story of the different ways we survive and the healing power of love, forgiveness, connection, and friendship.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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