In Honor by Jessi Kirby

In Honor by Jessi Kirby 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: May 8th 2012
Pages: 235
Source: Bought
Genre: Contemporary, Road-Trip
Goodreads

Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her.

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn . . . and ruggedly good-looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn--but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

I got this book forever ago after hearing a ton of great things about it. I picked this up for my first day of summer, and it was definitely a great way to start my summer off. Though this book wasn't quite what I expected it was still a terrific road trip book with bunch of great mini adventures.

The story is about a girl named Honor and a boy named Rusty. The two of them head out on a trip together after Honor's brother dies. The go to see a concert with tickets that had been gifted to Honor from her brother right before his death. On the way they run into a few mini adventures and between the two of them they learn more about Honor's  brother than she knew before.

I loved the self and family discovery that went on in this story. The book actually happened in a fairly short about of time, and in that time Honor and Rusty learn a lot about themselves as well as their fallen brother an friend. I love how the information revealed about Honor's brother was all very positive, making her realize what good of a person he was instead of putting him down. It seems like some books that deal with the grief of death focus in on revealing and pointing out that the person that passed was not perfect, and that's great but I love to hear that maybe they really were a good person and not reveling in the bad things.

I loved all of the mini adventures that Rusty and Honor went on together. Some of the events were more of a soul searching process, while others were more just fun like experiencing the hot summer weather in a air conditioner free car, and each one just screamed summer to me. I loved it!

Honestly I expected there to be a little more romance in this book, like most road trip books, and there really wasn't much. I don't think that this book really needed it, nor where Rusty and Honor really fit to be together, so I'm glad that it wasn't added. If you are looking for a romance title, beware that this might not be the book for you.

I think that the ending could have been wrapped up better than it was. I wish that there had been a better conclusion between the characters than there was. I love how the trip ended, but it just sort of broke apart between Rusty and Honor despite what they had done together and I wanted a little more something between them.