Book: In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Book Info: Published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers; 240 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Author Website

Goodreads.com Summary: Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her. 

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn . . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

I LOVED In Honor!  I wanted to cry AT THE BEGINNING of the book, which is even more rare than me crying by the end of it.  Which I did, but that’s beside the point.

It was heart-breaking and yet Honor and Rusty managed to work a lot of things out by the end of the book.  I loved their journey and the problems they came across.

My only problem with the book would be the ending.  It was irritating that we found out Finn didn’t tell Honor he joined the military so she could go to her dream school.  I get he would give up his dream of going to college so his sister could go instead, but I don’t know…it kind of fit, but something felt off about it.

The ending was predictable, with a secret being revealed, and with Honor meeting Kyra Kelly at the airport.  But it was a great book to read, and it was refreshing to see grief over someone who didn’t die from a drug overdose or from suicide.  I still liked the ending, and I was glad Kirby left the ending as it was.

Overall, it gets a 5 out of 5.  It’s a great summer read, and despite my issues with the ending, I just loved it!