The Bottom Line: Really interesting stuff here with great character development. Such an interesting topic to read and learn about, don’t you think? I’d recommend this one. Though this story was quite short, somewhere around 200 pages, I found it to be very well developed, with two very strong lead characters with such distinct voices. Both girls suffer from guilt, pain, heartbreak… yet ultimately find love and peace as well. Amelia’s story is linear, though, and takes us through the time of the transplant surgery, up through her discovery of the donor family (Eagan’s) and their grievances. Her narration and the setting she is in was really reminiscent of The Lovely Bones. Eagan’s portion of the story is a reflection of her life, and is scattered with various memories, most of them reflecting on the poor relationship she had with her mother, and her now trying to come to terms with it. Eagan narrates from the afterlife, though her story is not linear like Amelia’s. My Thoughts: I thought this book was fascinating! The chapters alternate between the two girls with their two stories running parallel. Have these traits somehow carried on to Amelia through Eagan’s heart? This story is told from alternating points of view, both Amelia, who is trying to discover who her donor is, and Eagan, from the afterlife, who looks back on her life and memories. After the transplant, Amelia has taken on strange new characteristics – an interest in figure skating, a rocky relationship with her mother – all traits from Eagan. With her death comes a new beginning for 14 year old Amelia, who receives Eagan’s heart through a transplant, and a shot at a new life, one without illness and restraints with this new, fully functioning heart.
Summary: Eagan, a 16 year old figure skater, makes one tiny mistake at her competition, and bangs her head and dies on the spot. I recently read In a Heartbeat, by Loretta Ellsworth, through Around the World Tours.
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