Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Having missed her flight, she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row.
A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?
Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.
My Review
I stumbled upon this book by accident. I was looking for a light young adult book to read – something different than my usual fantasy, scifi or dystopian reads – and this was one of the books that popped up on my searches. I thought it looked like what I was looking for so I would give it a go. I was not disappointed!
At first glance this seems to be a young adult romance story. Something light and fun to zip through quickly. But it didn’t take more than a few pages for me to realize that this book was much more than that. While there is a romantic storyline, Smith is dealing with much deeper issues in this novel: death, divorce, parents, life changes and the pain of moving on.
I highly recommend this to any teen, particularly those in their senior years at high school. This is an amazingly well written coming of age story. A cross between Laurie Halse Anderson and John Green, Jennifer E. Smith is a talented writer. The characters and the storyline are anything but predictable and will keep you turning the pages!
