Who: Sarah OcklerWhat: Fixing Delilah
When: December 1st, 2010
Why: Tour
How: For Review
Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to
fall apart. She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it
together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother
refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling
apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.
Over a summer of new
friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between
mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her
most shattered relationships be pieced together again?
Fixing Delilah is a young adult contemporary novel about a girl who's dealing with the loss of her grandmother, the busy life her mom has that barely leaves time for her, new love, new friends, and a secret family past that had long since been kept from her. Sounds awesome, right? Well, if you know me, I wasn't a big fan of contemp when I agreed to review this book. But Sarah Ockler is super sweet, so I gave it a try. Oh. My. God. I loved it, so much. This is the reason I read Contemp now people! Now unto the actual review!
Sarah knows how to write about loss. Though I haven't read Twenty Boy Summer (but it's on my TBR pile!), it was especially apparent reading Fixing Delilah. The main theme in this book is family problems, and how every family has their closet secrets and problems. Delilah's mother, who is too busy with her work to pay attention to pretty much anything else, plays a major role in the book as something that Delilah is trying to understand. And I think she portrayed that mother-daughter relationship perfectly, how sometimes when you need them, they're too busy, but they still love you anyway.
Delilah was a well-rounded character, and I loved reading her story. I liked how she went looking for answers, with or without help from other people. She decided for herself that if no one else was going to tell her anything, she had to go figure things out herself. She didn't go for the whole 'Ignorance is bliss' thing, so kudos for her. Delilah's life is a lot about her trying to discover herself and who she is, and that's a major part of being a teen! The emotions and especially the imagery that Sarah wrote into the story was beautiful and I felt that I was really in that small town.
And then of course, I must talk about Patrick. Can I have one? Their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the book, mostly because it was something that you know grew over time. It didn't just materialize into thin air, they'd known each other since childhood. This fun summer-time romance turns into a meaningful relationship and you get to see it all unfold. What can I say? I'm a romance whore and Fixing Delilah totally gave me enough in the romance department.
My rating? AWESOMESAUCE. Pick up anything by Sarah definitely!
Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.
