Willow by Julia Hoban

Seven months ago on a rainy March night, Willow's parents drank too much at dinner and asked her to drive them home. But they never made it -- Willow lost control of the car, and both of her parents were killed. Now the only way she knows how to survive and control the pain is by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she finds it hard to keep the secret that's written all over her body.


Lately, I have been picking up books that delve into the psychological musings of a troubled teenager. Willow is the first that has really caught my attention from the first chapter. I have never known any one of my friends or family who has resorted to this kind of behavior, therefor I was unsure of how to react to some of the descriptive actions.


Understandably, there are many moments when Hoban is letting the mind of Willow fall onto the pages in attempts to describe the thoughts of this character. There is much questioning of the actions of her brother and of Guy. Because of the long interludes between dialogue and these thought processes, it can feel stagnant and drawn out. It could be necessary in order to truly explain this teenager's struggle.


It was worth reading through each psychoanalysis, though. I wanted to keep going, to find out the result of each relationship Willow had left.


This is the first book from Julia Hoban that I have read and I look forward to more!


Goodreads: Julia Hoban