Saving Quinton by Jessica Sorenson

"That hope can only be gone when someone's heart stops beating. When they take their last and final breath, when they don't come back."

Quinton Carter is a nobody. He doesn't deserve to be somebody--not after what he's done. He was the driver of the car in which his girlfriend, Lexi, and cousin, Ryder, were killed. He's been trying to find a way to end his own life by way of self-destruction. He's turned a big junkie, addicted to crystal meth and he's holed up with Ryder's brother, Tristan, who seems to be on the same destructive path. He's a long ways away from when he met Nova last summer. When Nova gets out of school for the summer, she makes it her goal to try to find Quinton and to try to help him--something she wasn't able to do for her late-boyfriend, Landon. Can she help him or is he way too far down the path to ever go back? Can you really help somebody who doesn't want to be helped?

Nova is the somewhat naive girl we're all familiar with from the first novel in this series, Breaking Nova. In the first novel, she goes through hell and back dealing with the suicide of her then-boyfriend. Having broken free from her great depression, in this book, she's on a mission--a mission to save Quinton from himself. She's gone through it herself and now she's convinced that she can help Quinton get through it, too, if only he would allow her to help him...

Quinton is way damaged goods. We're talking so far down the path there's quite a big possibility that he would end up dead in a few weeks if there were no intervention. As damaged as he is, though, there's that little bit of hope and we see this in the way he really clings onto Nova and what she means to him. Even through all the drugs and bs his life currently is, she can seemingly "brighten" his day. I mean, if he was really that far gone, no one, not even a girl would be able to bring him back... I want to say that he's more lost than anything else. He really just needs someone to guide him towards a better way to grieve the loss of Lexi and Ryder. I'm fairly drawn to his character and want to see how things further develop with him as he seems fairly complex.

Saving Quinton definitely didn't disappoint. I went into this novel wanting more of Quinton and his story and oh boyyyy did I get it. It was heartbreaking, it was disgusting, it was depressing and it was oh-so-painful. Jessica really brings her reader to see things in Quinton's world and it is NOT pretty. I really felt like I was in their world which is not an easy feat in teen novels, I must say. Most of the time you can relate to characters and what not but it's not often you really get pulled into a story as you do in this series. I would say that this was a great continuation of Breaking Nova, I most definitely enjoyed it. The only disappointment was the ending--umm, hi, way to leave me hanging!! When's the next book coming out!!? :)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Kindle version of Saving Quinton is available for purchase on Amazon!

Breaking Nova by Jessica Sorensen

"The feeling of it calms me down because it reminds me that there's life in the world, and that hearts do keep beating even after they break."

--Quinton

Nova is home after a difficult freshman year of college. She's still trying to cope with the suicide of her boyfriend, Landon. Things haven't gotten any better for her and, in fact, things are exacerbated being back home where everything is a constant reminder of him. In trying to move on with her life, Nova finds herself lost more than ever before. We watch her  go down a treacherous road of self-destruction in her search of a path of healing and moving on.

Quinton is new in town. Having been disowned by his own father, he seeks refuge with his cousin, Tristan, and his cousin's housemate Dylan. Like Nova, he's grieving his own losses. Quinton was driving the vehicle involved in an accident responsible for the death of his girlfriend (Lexi) and cousin (Tristan's sister). We follow Quinton in his inner struggle with grief of loss and guilt of being the one responsible.

Do Nova and Quinton find themselves and find a way to move on? Do they find refuge from the pain in each other or do they send each other into spirals of destruction?

Simply put, I loved Breaking Nova. It left me in tears, it made my heart ache for Nova and Quinton, it left me me wanting more. The stories of Nova and Quinton are just so heart-wrenching and I loved every bit of it. I cannot begin to imagine being in either of their places. How can one possibly heal when the one you love chooses to leave you in a permanent way? How does one move on and live life when, even if unintentionally, you're the one responsible for taking the lives of not one, but two people that you love?

Death and suicide is prevalent in both plots and throughout the entire novel--Landon's suicide leaves Nova alone and feeling abandonned; and Quinton's desire to end his own life after having, unintentionally, taken the life of his girlfriend and cousin. If you want to be thrown into a mixed bag of sad, emptiness, loss, depression, abandonment, attraction and confusion (just to name a few, y'know) this book is for you!! I think I must have felt a million things while reading this novel. Usually, I hate books that have no finite ending (what can I say, I hate not knowing what happens next!). I find that Breaking Nova ties up Nova's story nicely and leaves me wanting to read the next book to find out what happens to Quinton.

Purchase the Kindle edition of Breaking Nova on amazon.ca!