Just Like That

by Marsha Qualey

[Joni Reads]

Hanna Martin has just broken up with her boyfriend of almost a year and is unsure how to feel about life. She knows she should feel sad or angry but instead she feels nothing. But then one midnight walk to clear her head changes everything about her life and makes her question her beliefs about love, friendship, and family.
I am so glad that I found this book in my local library. First off, the cover is beautiful. And I love the title, it is so thought provoking. Which describes the book as well, very thought provoking. I will admit that the writing style bugged me. The dialogue seemed a bit forced and just unnatural. But as a writer I understand how difficult dialogue is to write so I am looking passed that. Just throwing it out there as a warning.
Hanna comes across two couples on her midnight walk by the lake in her neighborhood. The first is a couple skiing and they warn her not to go out on the lake because although it is winter in Minnesota the ice is thin in some places. The second couple rides by on an ATV and they are laughing, celebrating their one year anniversary. They stop by and briefly talk to Hanna. And though she knows she should tell them not to ride on the lake, she doesn’t. Instead she lets them drive off and then she gets up and walks home. The next morning she finds out that the couple died. The ATV crashed through the ice and they were killed. Hanna is overcome by grief and guilt and cannot bring herself to talk to anyone about what happened. Until she meets Will, a boy who has secrets of his own.
This story idea is so original and it was like a breathe of fresh air after reading about five books in a row that I was able to predict the entire plotline about five pages into the novel. This one was different. I had no idea what to expect or where the story would go. I really like Hanna. She is down to earth and a very believable character. I also love the relationship between her and her mother, which is featured prominently in the book. They seem to have a near perfect relationship and I hope to have a similar one to my daughter when she grows up.
To get into the details that I loved about this book mean revealing basically the entire plotline. But to summarize, please read this book. Dig it out of your library’s YA section, request it through interlibrary loan, order it on amazon, do something. It’s an older book, written in 2005. But it’s too good to be forgotten about. It’s realistic, thought provoking, and has the right mix of intrigue, romance, mystery, angst-basically the recipe for the perfect teen novel. I will say that I plan on finding a copy on amazon and ordering ASAP. This book will definitely be added to my list of books that can be read over and over again. Read this book, you won’t regret it.