In Honor in Sophomore Reading Challenge

Jul 27, 2011 Shanyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: wow, ccc, src

TIM. RIGGINS.

Full Review: http://chickloveslit.com/2012/02/revi... ...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Sarah (YA Love) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, realistic-fiction, young-adult-lit, ncte-alan12, contemporary-ya, grief, recommended-summer-reading-2012, 2012-release, read-in-2012, road-trips

Review originally posted at Y.A. Love

Have you ever started reading a book and knew right away that you were going to love every single page? That’s how I felt when I started reading In Honor by Jessi Kirby. I can’t explain what about a book wins me over when I have this experience, but I’m happy about it nonetheless. I felt similarly when I read Jessi Kirby’s debut Moonglass as well. Her writing draws me in and doesn’t let go until I’ve finished her book.

I love that In Honor starts with Honor de Review originally posted at Y.A. Love

Have you ever started reading a book and knew right away that you were going to love every single page? That’s how I felt when I started reading In Honor by Jessi Kirby. I can’t explain what about a book wins me over when I have this experience, but I’m happy about it nonetheless. I felt similarly when I read Jessi Kirby’s debut Moonglass as well. Her writing draws me in and doesn’t let go until I’ve finished her book.

I love that In Honor starts with Honor describing taps being played and the 21-gun salute. If you’ve been to a funeral when taps has been played and the salute is given, then it’s easy to relive it while reading someone’s experience. It’s an emotional experience which becomes an emotional reading experience. I don’t have an immediate family member serving, but I have former students serving, I have cousins serving, I’ve had friends serving. I may not know what it feels like to lose a brother in the war, but I can certainly empathize with Honor and Rusty as they navigate through their grief. In Honor is an emotional read, but it’s balanced with love, hope, and humor that many readers will appreciate.

The road trip setting gives In Honor a lighter mood despite the circumstances which I really appreciated because it made the emotional scenes even more powerful. Road trip books are entertaining because characters are forced to interact with one another, given the close quarters, which provides more character development and insight. Honor pretty much wears her heart on her sleeve, but Rusty is harder to read. Honor and Rusty don’t get along very well and the tension is palpable, but there’s something just beneath the surface that lets the reader know that there’s more to Rusty than meets the eye. Besides the fact that I had a character crush on him, I really enjoyed watching his character grow and discovering his secrets as their journey to California progressed. He and Honor are learning more about each other, but they’re also learning about themselves through this entire ordeal.

I don’t know if this makes sense, but reading In Honor made me wish I could either live in Texas or at least visit Texas. I love living in Michigan, so maybe I just wish I could have gone to Texas years ago and met a cute guy like Rusty? I don’t know, but the whole southern atmosphere described was alluring. I have been to Sedona (a pit stop Honor and Rusty have to make), so I know how beautiful it is and really want to make a return visit. More than anything, I think this awkward paragraph just goes to show how well Jessi Kirby created the atmosphere and setting of In Honor. So many elements of this book won me over and made me feel like I was there with Honor and Rusty.

If you take anything from this review, know this: In Honor is a book that will resonate with readers. The characters are dynamic and true and ones you’ll wish you could meet in real life. Jessi Kirby wrote a wonderful debut, but her sophomore novel, In Honor, is even better. Without a doubt, In Honor will be extremely popular in my classroom and I really hope you read it. ...more

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May 15, 2012 Atmika Singh rated it liked it

Shelves: chick-lit, romance-love, young-adult, yes-i-cried, amazing-cover, cute, road-trip, deals-with-death

"In honor"
The book's title is perfect.
A sister wants to honor what she thinks is her brother's last wish.

Honor has just buried her older brother Finn who died in action while on duty in Iraq. He leaves her a letter and in her grief she interprets the letter to be his last wish. And to fulfill that wish she decides to go on a road trip to California to me Kyra Kelly (read: Taylor swift) with Rusty, Finn's ex best friend.

I love reading a novel about road trips. The characters are able to communic ...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Princess Bookie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read2013

My Thoughts: Road trip with a hot guy? YES PLEASE.

Honor is a cool girl. I liked her. I thought she was neat. Honor loses her brother Finn in combat. She’s just not the same after that. They were close. Best friends. Nothing can replace him. She’s going through the grieving process. They have his funeral and a while later she gets a letter from him. It must have been one he wrote before the accident happened.

Inside is a letter telling her to follow her dreams and to go see her favorite singer Ky My Thoughts: Road trip with a hot guy? YES PLEASE.

Honor is a cool girl. I liked her. I thought she was neat. Honor loses her brother Finn in combat. She’s just not the same after that. They were close. Best friends. Nothing can replace him. She’s going through the grieving process. They have his funeral and a while later she gets a letter from him. It must have been one he wrote before the accident happened.

Inside is a letter telling her to follow her dreams and to go see her favorite singer Kyra Kelly and tell her about Finn being in love with her. Honor has followed Kyra’s career from the beginning. He sent her two tickets.

So, she does the only thing she knows how. She listens to her brother. She gets in the car he left her instead of driving off to college. She heads to California from Texas to see Kyra perform. But right in tow is Finn’s best friend Rusty. He happens to be in the right place at the right time and goes on the road trip with Honor.

I liked their banter. They had been best friends for years as well until Rusty and Finn got into a fight and stopped talking. They both had full rides to college but instead Finn chose the Marines.

At times things get pretty awkward between Rusty and Honor. But its also very interesting too. You can tell they both feel things for each other that are more than friendship. They see each other in another light. They have a few stops along the way and I enjoyed seeing these events happen. They were enlightening and just what Honor really needed.

I thought this one was a well written novel. It was cute, but also had a deeper meaning. I liked both Rusty and Honor and I liked they way they could relate to one another.

It was a wonderful novel! A nice contemporary!

Overall: Loved it! Loved the characters, loved the road trip even if it was for crappy reasons, and I loved the way things ended. It felt right.

Cover: Love it! Also love the back of the cover as well, where we can see the guy! Very cute!

What I’d Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes
____________
Taken From Princess Bookie
www.princessbookie.com ...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Andi (Andi's ABCs) rated it really liked it

Shelves: would-recommend, library-book

In Honor broke my heart right from the very beginning. Honor and Rusty were so completely broken by Finn’s death that it made me so unbelievably sad for them. Grief and loss is a terrible thing and neither knew what to do with it. Not to mention the fact that there was a lot of resentment between the two of them without either knowing what the other was feeling. The story was real and emotional and completely heart wrenching, but utterly fantastic.

In Honor is about the death of Honor’s brother F In Honor broke my heart right from the very beginning. Honor and Rusty were so completely broken by Finn’s death that it made me so unbelievably sad for them. Grief and loss is a terrible thing and neither knew what to do with it. Not to mention the fact that there was a lot of resentment between the two of them without either knowing what the other was feeling. The story was real and emotional and completely heart wrenching, but utterly fantastic.

In Honor is about the death of Honor’s brother Finn. Well not really his death, but more how his sister Honor, who Finn essentially helped raise when their parents died, and his best friend Rusty who had a falling out with Finn before he left for the Marines, dealt with the grief of his loss. When Honor gets an idea to take a road trip to see a singer her brother had gotten her tickets to and somehow Rusty ends up on the journey, the two of them discover that sometimes it’s best not to deal with grief alone. As they drive the open road the see what is really there right in front of them and that it’s okay to be sad and to move on.

Honor made this book for me right from the start. I connected with her emotions and how she was reacting to things. I understood her from the get go so it was easy to like her and what great things for her. She even made me teary-eyed at the very beginning which is hard to do with me in a book when I barely know the characters. But I also really liked Rusty once you got past the hurt and the lashing out. We didn’t know his story or what truly happened between him and Finn until much farther in the book, but it didn’t matter because you could still feel his pain and you could sense his pain was less when it was just him and Honor driving in the Impala. The two of them played off each other really well. And as everything from the past came forward they both dealt with their emotions in a way you would expect from two broken people that felt like they were missing a piece of themselves. Everything just kind of clicked for me.

Definitely my fave Jessi Kirby book. It had all the elements of a great book and kept me reading and wanting to just give the characters a hug. I had been told for a while now to read this marvelous book and I’m so happy I listened. Fabulous! ...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Hannah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-finished-copy, 2014

In my review of Jessi Kirby’s debut, Moonglass, I talked about how it seemed like she had written the book just for me, making everything exactly the way I like it. And she’s done it again with In Honor. In Honor is perfect in every way, and I think I might have loved it even more than Moonglass.

Like in Moonglass, Jessi Kirby’s writing is what makes everything work. I don’t even know what it is about her style that I love so much, but it’s so, so good. Jessi Kirby’s writing is vivid and beautifu In my review of Jessi Kirby’s debut, Moonglass, I talked about how it seemed like she had written the book just for me, making everything exactly the way I like it. And she’s done it again with In Honor. In Honor is perfect in every way, and I think I might have loved it even more than Moonglass.

Like in Moonglass, Jessi Kirby’s writing is what makes everything work. I don’t even know what it is about her style that I love so much, but it’s so, so good. Jessi Kirby’s writing is vivid and beautiful, and I felt like I was there alongside Honor and Rusty the entire time. She really has a knack for balancing dark topics with some lighter moments: even though I felt Honor’s grief throughout the story, it was mainly a happy one, and I laughed more than I cried while reading. Any book that can make me laugh as well as cry, though, is a good one. (Even if I would have preferred not to have done either, since I read this on a plane and earned some stares when I was alternately laughing and crying.)

Books with road trips get an automatic bonus point from me, especially when they’re well-done, like in In Honor. Honor’s physical journey works perfectly with her emotional or spiritual one, and I loved reading about all the unusual things she got to do along the way. Road trip books like this one make me wish I wasn’t too boring to go on a trip like that.

I loved the romance in In Honor, and I loved it even more for not taking center stage. Both Honor and Rusty are characters I loved individually, so I really appreciated how the novel focuses on how they both heal, and help each other heal, instead of putting their individual growth second to their relationship. I always enjoy understated, bittersweet romances like this one, much more than melodramatic, unrealistic ones.

With vivid and evocative writing, dynamic characters you can’t help but love, and a story that I know will stay with me for a while, In Honor was everything I’d hoped it would be. Jessi Kirby is quickly turning into a new favorite author of mine, and I can’t wait to read her newest release, Golden!

Reviewed at http://www.paperbacktreasures.blogspo... ...more

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May 10, 2012 Rachael rated it liked it

Shelves: chick-lit, 2012, reviewed

If you want to see more of my reviews, check out my blog @ Moosubi Reviews!

In Honor is what I consider a "feel good" book - it's pretty light-hearted and just makes you feel happy in the end. It's a book that I also consider a beach read, since it's pretty short, and, well, perfect for the beach reading!

I'm going to start with the more negative side - the plot itself is pretty predictable, considering it's a road-trip romance novel. Maybe I've just read too much of this genre, but except for one If you want to see more of my reviews, check out my blog @ Moosubi Reviews!

In Honor is what I consider a "feel good" book - it's pretty light-hearted and just makes you feel happy in the end. It's a book that I also consider a beach read, since it's pretty short, and, well, perfect for the beach reading!

I'm going to start with the more negative side - the plot itself is pretty predictable, considering it's a road-trip romance novel. Maybe I've just read too much of this genre, but except for one indie book Last Stop, This Town by David Steinberg, which actually stars a group of four guys, this is realistically how they go:

Boy & girl are forced to go on / spontaneously decide to / obligated by circumstances to go on a road trip together ->
Somewhat awkward flirting ->
A pit stop ->
More awkward flirting behavior ->
Some awkward circumstance that I think might be movie-worthy cliche ->
Romantic moment ->
Maybe-Kind of-Dating ->
Relationship problem ->
They make up and fall in love ->
End of Road Trip, although "I'll never forget you!"

In all seriousness, this is how most YA road trip romance novels go. And usually, the guy also happens to be a family friend or sibling's best friend, and the girl happens to have one lone best friend that she might or might not leave behind, but otherwise is kind of a loner but also somehow beautiful on the outside and the inside.

Judging based on these standards, In Honor definitely fits this criteria. If you're the type of reader that doesn't want the classic chick-lit romance, I would suggest skipping this book. Personally, I was looking for something short and readable for a read-a-thon & summer reading, and that's what I got when I read the book, so I enjoyed it! I have to admit there's moments of romancey-cuteness, and the ending is fairy-tale worthy (:

However, I do have to admit that there are some small elements in the plot that did bring it above "just-average". I was definitely a fan of the ending! Combined with the idea of fate and just going along with the flow, at the time, I was just happy to have the book tied up in a neat little bow. I would also say that the portrayal of Honor's emotions at the beginning, as well as throughout the novel was fairly realistic and beautifully flushed out at many moments!

Overall, In Honor is a short but sweet book, with its own small elements of surprise and emotion. I would recommend this book to romance fans, or YA readers looking for the "beach-read" type of book for a weekend or just for fun! ...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Neaira214 rated it it was ok

I don't feel connect with the book at the end... But The sad part made me pour a lot of tears... ...more

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May 14, 2012 Dulcy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-ccc

It's more like a 4.7 Review to come ...more

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Sep 04, 2011 Sarah (booksargram) rated it liked it

Shelves: march, cute, squee, completely-contemp, adorable, 2013

This book dragged for me for almost the whole book. It was a lot of first person narrative and description, with seldom interesting stops along the way. What redeemed it was the last chapter or so, which made it worth the read.

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