Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald

Getting Over Garrett Delaney

Author: Abbey McDonald
Pages: 336
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Expected Publication: January 24th 2012

 Age Group: Young Adult (14-18)
Book Source: Net Galley

Garrett: He is moody, artistic, beautiful, lovely, enjoys serious swedish movies with underlying tones- and most of all- He is Just a Friend.

Sadie: She is moody, artistic, just a girl, enjoys suffering through serious swedish movies with underlying tones with Garrett. 

Sound familar? 

     Garrett Delaney has been the center of Sadie's universe for the past two years- and she had planned on him being the center of her summer- during an intensive writing camp. That is until he gets accepted and she isn't. Those weeks with Garrett were supposed to make him fall in love with Sadie and realize what exactly he has had all along. Without camp this will never happen.
      Sadie's life (and summer) as she knows it, is over. Done. She will never live again. Yeah, right. She realizes she has weeks ahead of her with no plans. Soon with new friends from her job- she goes on an exciting adventure- discovering who she is without the center of her universe, best friend and love of her life, Garrett Delaney. 

      Garrett Delaney. I know that this book is about getting over a boy and really emphasizes being your own person, which I love. In many of the books we read: they love each other, they deny, they make-out, they deny, they admit love and walk into the sunset. the end. THAT ISN'T HOW REAL LIFE IS! I mean c'mon, really? It is about time for someone to write a novel that empowers women enough that they aren't helpless and just need a boy to exist.

       This book is about finding yourself- a journey you must complete in order to truly be yourself. How would it be to die never knowing who you are- what you like- without other people?

      As I have said- the independence is refreshing and it really focuses on friendships also. Have you read any books about friendship lately? I doubt it- it's all teen paranormal romance. Which is good too but you  need variation sometimes- it cannot all be the same.  And that is exactly what this book portrays. Not vampires, were-people, faeries, magical powers or even monsters; just REAL LIFE. Truth be told, that is exactly why I loved this novel. The utter realness of every single thing. I just completely feel in love with every part of this novel. Perfect read after the end of a relationship, it helps you understand and move on; it even includes a 12 Step Program, that's my FAVORITE part!

“I can't keep doing this to myself, getting my hopes up so high, only to have them come crashing down. I can't keep waiting for him to come to his senses, having my whole emotional state rest on what he decides. What if he never wakes up to how perfect we'd be together? What if I spend another year pining for him - or longer even? In a terrible flash, I see my future stretching out before me: waiting for his calls, rearranging my life around college visits, and decoding texts and instant messages like they could be something real, something true.

"This isn't love; this is pure torment.”
― Abby McDonald, Getting Over Garrett Delaney

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