Saving June by Hannah Harrington

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.


Judging from the Aussie cover (which is gorgeous) and the blurb I expected Saving June to be a melancholic (perhaps whimsical) novel exploring grief/sisterhood & bad boys ;) I thought it may be a rainy-day comfort read. But it was so much more than that. 

SAVING JUNE opens with Harper at her sisters wake ~ and the tone is pitch perfect for that kind of startled frozen grief ~ and yet Harrington had me grinning (grinning! in the aftermath of a funeral) multiple times before the chapter was through, even alongside that gorgeously portrayed ache. 

That first chapter pretty much sets the tone for the book ~ which continues to grow in it’s awesomeness right until the very end. I found SAVING JUNE absolutely refreshing and completely addictive. It’s funky and full of life even as it explores darker themes. 

It reads so effortlessly ~ like Harrington is very comfortable with her prose, characters and their world. I love lines of prose that make you stop and think, sentiments worded so perfectly that you find little epiphanies about the most ordinary of things (I found that here). Also ~ genius one-liners that made me ache/grin/pause/sigh or all of the above. 

I am crazy-in-love with the grin-worthy and whip-smart dialogue, that easy banter that comes from people being stuck on a road trip together and getting overly bold and familiar. This book easily catches a sense of camaraderie between it’s characters that make it easy for a reader to slip in alongside them and feel as if you are there. 

The romantic sub-plot (you guys!) unfolded exactly how I love: it starts off brilliantly antagonistic between Harper and Jake (love their first three meetings) and the romantic tension between them burns throughout the novel. Harrington shows such restraint in shaping their relationship and it really pays off. It’s incredibly sexy watching the love/hate/annoyance/attraction thing and even sexier when, well, when things turn sexy :D 

The thing about this book is at first glance you can probably find a lot of cliched threads: the (better, smarter) sister who committed suicide, a road trip with a mysterious bad boy, characters who struggle with their parents and pasts and futures. But Harrington blitzes pass cliche-land with her nuanced characters that are explored in layers, unfolding piece by piece. SAVING JUNE has so much heart, it’s sad in parts but mostly captures that whole YA thing of finding your place in the world. It has hope and I smiled, grinned and sighed, like, a lot, considering the premise of the book O.o 

There are also random cool things that make road trip books so much fun. For eg: Fridgehenge (!) 

There are a few things that niggled at the end and occasionally the pacing lulls (not in terms of my interest in reading, oh my gosh I couldn’t put it down, but perhaps in terms of plot) and some of the banter with other characters can occasionally be too smart (in that John-Green-I-am-cool-kind-of-way ~ but only with a few minor-blip characters) but none of this detracted from insanely loving every minute of this. 


Recommended: for an upper YA vibe, road-trip, music filled, complete swoon-worthy read ~ SAVING JUNE is absolutely delivers. It's in my top three reads so far this year. I've tried not to rave (too much) in my review but - you guys - I am crazy-in-love with this book <3


(it is M rated in parts ~ so for mature readers ...)


Saving June @ goodreads

US cover

Saving June was released in Australia last month (available now!) ~ but will not be out in the US until November 29 this year (no idea why!!? ~ it is an American author). It is a YA debut (And I will auto-buy whatever Hannah Harrington writes next ;)

Which cover do you like best? 

p.s. I am still swooning ;) <3