Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

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 take his own life? Was it London’s fault?


This book was breathtaking. It's the first book from Carol Lynch Williams that I've read, and I'm really sad that it's over. I read Waiting in an hour and a half, and it was an emotional hour and a half. London's love for her brother was so sweet and inspiring and the way his death affected her just made for a truly good, and real story.

I really liked the characters. At times, London annoyed me, but I got over it quickly. The whole book has a really dark undertone, especialy due to the novel being written in poetry form. However, the book was also surprisingly hopeful and occasionally bright. Along with grief, sexuality is also explored within the novel. London is caught in a love triangle between her brother's best friend, and the handsome new kid in town. That is what bugged me about her- that she was going behind both boy's backs. But part of me was still rooting for her, since both boys were sweet.

I really admire everything that London had to go through, and how she handled it. The journey she had to go through to get to where she was at the end of the novel was a long and painful one, but it was ultimately one of the best outcomes for her. The scenes toward the end of the book that were some of the staple moments in her journey were amazingly written. As the reader, I went through tens of emotions while reading those scenes, and they made for a truly great book.

I strongly reccomend Waiting. It's a really strong book, and explores a lot of topics that aren't always talked about together in young adult books.

FTC- ALA/Simon and Schuster.