The Quick Cut: A girl gives her kidney for her guy best friend, but will their friendship make it after his life develops post surgery?
A Real Review:
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Friendships between guys and girls are complicated for many reasons (all of which really boil down to we don't relate the same way). Whenever feelings are in play, someone is bound to get hurt unless clear communication is made on what is really going on. That problem comes up in a big way for Sophie and Peter.
Peter has spent his life in lockdown at home due to his kidney disease. Unable to leave without taking significant risks and struggling with dialysis, he has been homeschooled all his life while waiting for a new kidney. That changed when his best friend (and next door neighbor) Sophie agreed to donate one of hers after finding out shes a match. Great, right? Maybe not... post surgery life finds Peter intrigued with a boy named Chase and spending less and less with Sophie. Can their friendship ever survive? Was their feelings ever real?
This book is outright heartbreaking, but it takes a real slow start to get there. I know the author is just trying to setup the relationship between these two friends and their dynamic, but I found myself tuning out a lot. The alternate chapter narration between Sophie and Peter definitely fit in order to grasp what each person was going through.
Sophie is interesting because while she's the older one at 18, she's also slightly naive. In her brain, she thinks that what they have is love and doing this transplant would solidify that. Instead she ends up gilted and questioning everything.
Meanwhile, Peter is incredibly selfish and clueless as to how much he is. The guy was dying, I get it. However, when your friend gives an organ to you - might want to make time to continue being friends and show interest in their lives. I found myself really disgusted by him, but even more so by his parents who waited way too late to figure that out.
Chase makes it clear that he wants to get between these two from the start and sort of puts the onus on Sophie - so he's not innocent either. Its messy feelings all around and the ache is very real.
With a slow start, this heart wrencher is worth reading to see the inner workings of a friendship post transplant.
My rating: 4 out of 5