Review: Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Summary: As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts.They were also one another's only friend.So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend. When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken. Sweethearts is a story about the power of memory, the bond of friendship, and the quiet resilience of our childhood hearts.


My Thoughts: From the cover, you'd never guess that this book is the emotional tale that it is. I guess that's why they always tell you to not judge a book by it's cover.

Jennifer and Cameron have always shared a impenetrable bond. Being bullied and picked on, these two were always there for eachother through thick and thin. Years later, after the dissapearance of her best friend, Jennifer has evolved into Jenna. She goes to a different school, lost her baby fat and lisp, made some friends, and gained a boyfriend. However, Jenna can't help but think to the days when it was just her and Cameron against the world. She starts to question who she really is, and if she likes the person she changed in to.

Jenna's life is turned upside down by the reappearance of Cameron Quick, they boy she thought was gone for good. Life hasn't been kind to him, and Jenna starts to remember some unpleasant memories she'd rather forget about their past.

Sweethearts really suprised me. I hadn't loved a book like this in a long time. The main characters had multiple layers to them that the readers got to see stripped away throughout the book. The writing was pheonomenal, leading me to never want to put the book down. Overall, It was a beautifully, heartbeaking tale of friendship, and love, and not being able to, or wanting to let go of that one person that's always loved you for who you really are.

Memorable Quote: "Because love, love is never finished. It circles and circles, the memories out of order and not always
complete."

Rating: 5 Stars