Review: The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Published October 11th, 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hardcover, 351 pages
Source: Library
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When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a  paper kite, for letting go.

As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?-from Goodreads

I love a well written young adult contemporary book. The Survival Kit is just that.

Donna Freitas wrote a beautiful story about Rose. I cried, smiled, and laughed multiple times during this novel. One certain memory Rose had about a day after her mother's death had me crying pretty hardcore. I got one of those what I like to call "crying headaches." I enjoyed going on this journey with Rose and the survival kit her mother left for her after she died to help her cope with her mother's death. We get to see how different she is from page one until the epilogue.

Many times in a young adult story, we see the protagonist dump her boyfriend (or get dumped) and he's a bad person. Donna wrote Rose's boyfriend at the beginning of the book to be a good guy and he stayed a good guy until the end of the book. It was refreshing to not see the girl running from a bad boy to a good guy or vice versa, but having to decide for herself between a couple of good ones.

The romance between Will and Rose was so slow and so stinking cute. They started off slowly talking as friends because they both had lost a parent...it couldn't have been more perfect.

There's music in this contemporary! I'm sure many of you will LOVE this! It isn't overpowering in any way. Donna has even supplied us with a playlist at the end of the novel. Thank you Donna!

For those of you who have read This Gorgeous Game, the story is completely different, but I loved it just as much! I'm looking forward to reading anything else she publishes!

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