Very good emotional story of grief and acceptance.

Mark is a twin, his sister Grace died in a car accident while driving with Mark, leaving him mourning and feeling guilty for surviving. Hanna, Grace’s best friend, finds a list of five things to do in Grace’s purse after the accident. Hanna and Mark decide to do the things as a way to remember, honor Grace, and say goodbye. It’s hard for Mark to deal with when Hanna seems to keep bringing other people into the activities they had planned. He doesn’t want to share this last bit of his sister with anyone. There is some potential romance between Hanna and Mark, that also clouds Marks feelings and desires. How he deals with those things makes this story wonderfully compelling. Ms. Arcos does a remarkable job of realistically portraying grief in it’s many forms. ( )

Mark Santos has/had a twin sister named Grace. Mark and Grace were in a car accident and Grace was killed while Mark who was driving survived. They were both looking forward to their senior year in high school but now Mark has to experience his senior year without Grace. Mark misses his twin sister and has not found a way to work through the grieving process. Grace’s best friend, Hanna, who is also their neighbor, finds a bucket list in one of Grace’s journals. Hanna convinces Mark that together they can complete the top five things to do this year list that Grace has made. Completing the bucket list helps Mark cope with losing Grace but he still has to find a strategy for managing his guilt over being the accident survivor and for dealing with the heartbreak of losing his twin sister.

The plot flowed well and supported the theme of the book. Losing a sibling or friend is not something that most young adults can fathom and having a male character telling about such an emotional experience is an additional benefit in strengthening the story. I like how the author resolves the burden of Mark’s conflicted grief but she also hints that as time goes on Mark will continually get better at managing the heartache and loss.

This review is written after the reading an ARC of this book.
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A young teenager Mark has lost his sister Grace in a car crash. He takes the blame for her death so he goes to the bridge where it all happened. His mother left Mark and Grace when they were only small children. Months after Grace's tragic death, Mark and Grace's best friend Hannah find Grace's diary in her room. Grace was a happy girl on the outside but apparently not on the inside. They find a page that's particularly interesting to them. It was Grace's bucket list. It was even more interesting because all the things on her bucket list were things she was afraid of. Mark and Hannah take on the duty of fulfilling all of Grace's things to do by the end of the year. With a new school year in the way and Mark's and Hannah's feelings for each other, could they ever finish Grace's bucket list?
I think the book was a very good book to read. It was heartfelt and the words felt natural and fluent in my head and as if i was reading it aloud myself. The balance between drama, romance, and death was perfect. When you read the book things just feel like it's happened to you yourself because of how emotionally attached you get to the characters. Overall, it was a good book ( )

If you're looking for a weeper, this will do it. Arcos portrays Mark's path of grief with honesty and gentleness. There's no she's-in-a-better-place sugar coating. Mark gets angry and lashes out at friends. This is how grieving is: hard and messy and overwhelming and raw. But then there are moments, even briefly, that are okay. A searing and true book. ( )

Very gpod read ( )