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39th out of 254 books
—
997 voters
Waiting
After her brother’s death, a teen struggles to rediscover love and find redemption in this gripping novel.
Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach...more
Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
May 1st 2012
by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
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”How can one person leaving change you so much?”
Just to warn you—this review is going to be a bit of a mess. My feelings for this book are all over the map. Let’s ramble! :D
Waiting is presented and packaged as something it is not. I kept going back and forth on whether to even mention this point. In the end, a flip of the coin decided. :) Religion, God, and Jesus play a big part of this story. I realize religion is a part of life, but I don't like to blend it with my YA, fiction, film, or entert...more
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This is one of those books you need to think about after reading it. I guess a lot of people will hate it because main character is messed up, her family is messed up. But when you think about whole story there is a reason for all that. I could find logic in it and that's why I like this book. It's so realistic that you can't do anything but ask yourself what kind of person you are and what are your priorities in life. If you set them right then something like this won't happen.
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Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams is the story of London Castle, a teenage girl who has recently moved to Florida with her former missionary parents. About nine months ago her old brother, Zach, died and since then her family has been falling apart. Her mother no longer speaks to her, her father spends all of his time working and her former best friend ignores her. Then she makes some new friends and develops a crush on a new boy while also questioning her faith.
I felt for London as soon we she wa...more
I felt for London as soon we she wa...more
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Find more of my reviews at www.readingangel.com
I started reading WAITING knowing that I was going to be a heart-broken mess by the time it was through. I had already read GLIMPSE by Carol Lynch Williams and I knew that she has a way of taking her verse novels and packing so much emotion, power, and heart-wrenching story into them that it leaves you gasping for breath through your tears.
In WAITING London is spiraling down a hole of depression. Her mother has not said a word to her since the deat...more
I started reading WAITING knowing that I was going to be a heart-broken mess by the time it was through. I had already read GLIMPSE by Carol Lynch Williams and I knew that she has a way of taking her verse novels and packing so much emotion, power, and heart-wrenching story into them that it leaves you gasping for breath through your tears.
In WAITING London is spiraling down a hole of depression. Her mother has not said a word to her since the deat...more
Oct 22, 2012
Jolene Perry
added it
At about 10 pages in, I was thinking it was a little over-dramatic, but she's a teen and she did lose her brother, so I kept going.
by 30 pages in, I was a bit hooked, by 50 pages, I knew I was going to stay up to finish it.
At page 150 I thought there was NO good way out.
As I neared the end, and realized it was going to be over, I felt this weight settle in knowing that I was almost done.
I love Williams' writing, and I love the topics she chooses to write about and I love her stories, and I love...more
by 30 pages in, I was a bit hooked, by 50 pages, I knew I was going to stay up to finish it.
At page 150 I thought there was NO good way out.
As I neared the end, and realized it was going to be over, I felt this weight settle in knowing that I was almost done.
I love Williams' writing, and I love the topics she chooses to write about and I love her stories, and I love...more
1 like · like · see review
She’s the author of over a dozen bestselling books. She’s got a Masters of Fine Arts in writing for children and young adults and knows how to grasp the voice of any teenage character. The one and only Carol Lynch Williams has wowed readers once again with her book WAITING, a story about a girl named London whose brother, Zach, died tragically at only 16 years old. Now that he’s gone, her mother doesn’t talk to her; London feels so alone and empty. People at school know. They treat her different...more
Hmm. Really 3.5 stars. I really liked the story. The writing was superb. Every word had weight. The format took a little getting used to but after that I breezed through the book. (If the book had been written using the typical paragraph format, it probably would've been half as long.) Anyway, I really liked that the main character, London, came to certain realizations about how to move on with life after her brother's death, even if I didn't agree with how she did it. I hated the mother, but I...more
POETRY
This book is written in free verse, is for girls, and is appropriate at a high school level. It follows London, who is the daughter of a minister, after her brother has committed suicide. This causes her entire family to fall apart. London feels completely broken and takes almost a year to heal at all, and her family hardly speaks to her or touches her anymore. Her mother hates her for not getting to her brother sooner (as she was the first to find out what he was doing) and won't look at...more
This book is written in free verse, is for girls, and is appropriate at a high school level. It follows London, who is the daughter of a minister, after her brother has committed suicide. This causes her entire family to fall apart. London feels completely broken and takes almost a year to heal at all, and her family hardly speaks to her or touches her anymore. Her mother hates her for not getting to her brother sooner (as she was the first to find out what he was doing) and won't look at...more
(This one is a bit more of a 3.5 rounding up than a proper 4)
London and her brother Zach grew up home-schooled siblings just about a year apart, children of missionaries. Well, now London continues to grow “up,” but Zach is gone, suicide. And now those he left behind are all just, waiting. London’s father attempts to get life back on some kind of track, but her mother has run right off the rails--a ghostly, silent, absent even when in the house presence that can neither comfort not be comforted....more
London and her brother Zach grew up home-schooled siblings just about a year apart, children of missionaries. Well, now London continues to grow “up,” but Zach is gone, suicide. And now those he left behind are all just, waiting. London’s father attempts to get life back on some kind of track, but her mother has run right off the rails--a ghostly, silent, absent even when in the house presence that can neither comfort not be comforted....more
Poetry category:
This story focuses on London, a teenager whose brother, Zach, has committed suicide and whose mother now refuses to speak to her. London struggles as she misses her brother and tries to work through her pain by going for two boys at the same time--one a new boy at school and one her old boyfriend and her brother's best friend. The story takes us on a journey to London's decision to date her brothers best friend and to stand up for herself to her mother, who blamed London for Zach...more
This story focuses on London, a teenager whose brother, Zach, has committed suicide and whose mother now refuses to speak to her. London struggles as she misses her brother and tries to work through her pain by going for two boys at the same time--one a new boy at school and one her old boyfriend and her brother's best friend. The story takes us on a journey to London's decision to date her brothers best friend and to stand up for herself to her mother, who blamed London for Zach...more
"Well-paced, raw novel-in-verse." - School Library Journal
Waiting, has earned Carol Lynch Williams back my respect. After reading her last book, Miles from Ordinary, I was eager to give Ms. Willimas another chance to bring herself back into my good graces. She has completely won me back over.
Waiting is completely brilliant. What made it fifty times better was the Acknowledgements at the beginning of the book (which, unfortunately might be easily missed). London Castle is just a messed-up high s...more
Waiting, has earned Carol Lynch Williams back my respect. After reading her last book, Miles from Ordinary, I was eager to give Ms. Willimas another chance to bring herself back into my good graces. She has completely won me back over.
Waiting is completely brilliant. What made it fifty times better was the Acknowledgements at the beginning of the book (which, unfortunately might be easily missed). London Castle is just a messed-up high s...more
Christian fiction has never been my thing. Overall it was a good book if you can get away from the underlying message that premarital sex will kill you. Would not recommend to anyone I know is not Christian since the amount of God/Jesus loves you is hard to overlook and would offend. I listed it as realistic but it has a very unrealistic portrayal that all siblings are best friends. London is best friends with Zach. Lili and Jesse are freakishly close. And Jesse, a 17/18 yr old teenage boy, says...more
Carol Lynch Williams has written a very powerful and moving story about a young woman's struggle to regain her footing in life after the suicide of her brother. The book is structured in a very unique way that adds to the intensity of it. The story is told in first person by London and is put together in short, choppy chapters -- sometimes only a few sentences -- which conveys the drama that the main character was experiencing.
The structure of the book and the intensity of the story make it eas...more
The structure of the book and the intensity of the story make it eas...more
May 10, 2012
Radhika
added it
My first book by this author and her attempt to tell the story from the present to the past really worked as she built up the characters as she went along. The story starts with a sister who is grieving alone for her brother who died and along with him she figuratively loses her whole family.
The family falls apart grieving for the lost child. Then unravels the mystery surrounding the brother's death and how each and every member of the family is trying to cope with thier feelings. Instead of pul...more
The family falls apart grieving for the lost child. Then unravels the mystery surrounding the brother's death and how each and every member of the family is trying to cope with thier feelings. Instead of pul...more
OH MY GOD. I can't. I am just speechless. I have lost words. This book was just... I don't even know. It got me. It got me good. The style of the writing, the characters and their relationships, all of it was just phenomenal. Under normal circumstances, I would not condone cheating, but that little bit was what made London especially human. London was a living, breathing person. My heart ached for her. And Zach, he was just phenomenal. I didn't read this book for the epic love story. I read it f...more
London and her older brother Zach were born to missionary parents, and whether they were living in an African village or a city in Florida, their close bond was a constant. When Zach dies, not only is London left without her best friend, her parents also fall apart, her father immersing himself in work, and her mother refusing to speak to London who she blames for Zach's death. To cope with the loss, London withdraws from life, but as the one year anniversary of Zach's death approaches, she begi...more
Sam, ever present in my life to suggest books, told me today that she plowed through Waiting in three hours and I needed to read it immediately.
Which I did, nervously, because you know how I feel about novels written in free verse, where
the line breaks,
like a bad metaphor
are somehow meant to convey so much
so much
so much more
emotion than simple paragraph form. ever. could.
But it worked with Waiting, probably because our fearless narrator was so shattered and emotionally all...more
Which I did, nervously, because you know how I feel about novels written in free verse, where
the line breaks,
chopped and divided
like a bad metaphor
are somehow meant to convey so much
so much
so much more
emotion than simple paragraph form. ever. could.
But it worked with Waiting, probably because our fearless narrator was so shattered and emotionally all...more
4 likes · like · see review
Reading a book by Carol Lynch Williams is like slipping into someone else's skin, walking around as her, breathing her air, and, especially, feeling what she feels. In the case of WAITING, we're inside the skin of London, a teenage girl who's lost her brother and whose family is crumbling because of his death.
London's skin is not a comfortable place to be--and yet, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to know more about her and to stay long enough to make sure she would be okay. And when the story...more
London's skin is not a comfortable place to be--and yet, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to know more about her and to stay long enough to make sure she would be okay. And when the story...more
I feel like this was a hybrid of prose and poetry. If that's a problem for you, I don't recommend this. It does make for a fabulously quick read.
I often find that the better the book, the less I have to say about it in a review. I read this in one day, and had to work at the not-crying thing. (I kind of failed; I'm turning into such a girly-girl mush-pot.)
So, this is a book that starts at a medium-low point, and steadily descends. By the end, it's started to take an upward turn, but we don't act...more
I often find that the better the book, the less I have to say about it in a review. I read this in one day, and had to work at the not-crying thing. (I kind of failed; I'm turning into such a girly-girl mush-pot.)
So, this is a book that starts at a medium-low point, and steadily descends. By the end, it's started to take an upward turn, but we don't act...more
Rating: 4.5
I usually don't do summaries of books...if you want to know what the book is about read the description.
I finished reading this book last night and I'm still thinking about it...I must admit is not the best book I've read but it was a good one. One of the first things that got me into it was the way it was written, since I've never read any book like that I thought it would be something different and new.
I loved how Williams was able to portray London, the main character, and her gr...more
I usually don't do summaries of books...if you want to know what the book is about read the description.
I finished reading this book last night and I'm still thinking about it...I must admit is not the best book I've read but it was a good one. One of the first things that got me into it was the way it was written, since I've never read any book like that I thought it would be something different and new.
I loved how Williams was able to portray London, the main character, and her gr...more
Oh My God!! This book is SPECTACULAR!!! I cried and cried even more with the characters. I laughed at parts that were funny. I don't have words to explain how this book resonates with me. It just hit a chord in my heart that I cried my eyes out. They were very few like this book that made me bawl my eyes out. Zach is an amazing brother, son, friend, boyfriend and would have been an amazing father. I loved his relationship with London. He was a perfect brother, a brother all sisters would want. I...more
After I finished WAITING last night, I couldn’t sleep. Some books change you, and WAITING did this for me.
This isn’t the typical grieving story, which is a good thing. Rather than an overdramatic focus on the dead brother, the plot centers on London, the main character. Through skillful word choice, the author tells us precisely enough for each moment, each scene. As a master at showing rather than telling, the author describes a younger Zach and London discovering all the hidden Christmas prese...more
This isn’t the typical grieving story, which is a good thing. Rather than an overdramatic focus on the dead brother, the plot centers on London, the main character. Through skillful word choice, the author tells us precisely enough for each moment, each scene. As a master at showing rather than telling, the author describes a younger Zach and London discovering all the hidden Christmas prese...more
I was thoroughly impressed with the unique presentation of this story. I have never read a novel written in verse before and this was a very intense introduction to the style. The author told such a powerful story of pain, loss, heartbreak and healing using so few words. I found it a wonderfully captivating yet sorrowful story. At times I found it a little bit hard for me to read as there was such raw emotion and pain portrayed. I often forced myself to read through tears. I felt such sympathy f...more
I’m trying to think of something that I didn’t like about this book, but honestly it’s amazing!!!!!! Since I can’t help it for this book there may be a lot of huge spoilers.
Summary:
London and her brother Zach were really close, until he dies at the age of 16. Her mother blames her for what has happened, and never once talks to her. Her father talks to her, but they’re not connected as they used to be, and they rarely talk. Then there’s Taylor her brother’s best friend, and her former boyfriend...more
Summary:
London and her brother Zach were really close, until he dies at the age of 16. Her mother blames her for what has happened, and never once talks to her. Her father talks to her, but they’re not connected as they used to be, and they rarely talk. Then there’s Taylor her brother’s best friend, and her former boyfriend...more
1 like · like · see review
Actual rating is more like 3.5, but I rounded up because of the ending.
This story was not something that I was expecting. Of course I knew the basic premise of it before I started reading, and that in itself wasn't exactly unique, but it didn't feel identical to all the other YA books that deal with the topic of grief.
The things that had me apprehensive about this book aren't that huge, so I'll start with those. I know that at least one other review has mentioned this already (I haven't read thr...more
This story was not something that I was expecting. Of course I knew the basic premise of it before I started reading, and that in itself wasn't exactly unique, but it didn't feel identical to all the other YA books that deal with the topic of grief.
The things that had me apprehensive about this book aren't that huge, so I'll start with those. I know that at least one other review has mentioned this already (I haven't read thr...more
In verse. I loved this book. The emotion in the book was palpable and consistent; I struggle as a writer to allow the same basic emotions (such as grief) to be present and consistent and still let the character change. Techniques that added to the emotion included the use of white space (like that on pages 14, 48, 83). In addition, the segments that were only one or two lines long showed Williams’ trust in the power of words – and that confidence added to their power. The formatting was interest...more
POETRY
London is alone. Her mom never talks to her anymore, sometimes she doesn't even come home. Her dad is struggling to keep up with work and never hugs London anymore. Ever since Zach killed himself, the family has fallen apart. Zach was London's brother and best friend- they told each other all their secrets and problems. People don't know what to say to London; London doesn't speak to anyone. Her brother's death haunts her and she cannot escape the silence. Alone, she reaches out to her br...more
London is alone. Her mom never talks to her anymore, sometimes she doesn't even come home. Her dad is struggling to keep up with work and never hugs London anymore. Ever since Zach killed himself, the family has fallen apart. Zach was London's brother and best friend- they told each other all their secrets and problems. People don't know what to say to London; London doesn't speak to anyone. Her brother's death haunts her and she cannot escape the silence. Alone, she reaches out to her br...more
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1 like · like · see review
A-MAZING
!!!!
This novel is moving, written beautifully, about love, loss, and moving on.
The plot isn’t so much active as it is pensive, but is engaging and does move forward at a good pace. Williams evocative combination of prose and poetry, is perfect!!!
An intense, tragic story of a family broken apart by the needless death of a this young man, Zach.
London and her older brother Zach were born to missionary parents, and their close bond was a constant; then her bother dies, and her mother (whic...more
This novel is moving, written beautifully, about love, loss, and moving on.
The plot isn’t so much active as it is pensive, but is engaging and does move forward at a good pace. Williams evocative combination of prose and poetry, is perfect!!!
An intense, tragic story of a family broken apart by the needless death of a this young man, Zach.
London and her older brother Zach were born to missionary parents, and their close bond was a constant; then her bother dies, and her mother (whic...more
1 like · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
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“Time has this way of slowing down and speeding up,depending on how it feels.”
—
4 people liked it
“An accident you're in? It marks you on the outside, maybe. Scars your face or your skin-breaks bones,crushes skulls,leaves the body changed.
An accident witnessed? You're different on the inside. Maybe there's no cut someone else can see, bu there're always injuries on the inside.
Those take a long time to heal.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
An accident witnessed? You're different on the inside. Maybe there's no cut someone else can see, bu there're always injuries on the inside.
Those take a long time to heal.”
