ARC Review: Aspen by Rebekah Crane

Aspen – Rebekah Crane

Author: Rebekah Crane

Series: -

Pages: 236

Publisher: In This Together Media

Release date: 5^th June 2014

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

One quiet night in Boulder, Colorado, Aspen Yellow-Sunrise Taylor made a mistake.

In the next instant, her life changed forever.

Aspen doesn't want to remember the devastating car accident that killed Katelyn Ryan, a sleek-haired popular soccer player. But forgetting is hard-- because Katelyn may have died -- but she didn't leave. Her ghost is following Aspen around, and heading into senior year, it's kind of a problem. Especially when Katelyn's gorgeous former boyfriend Ben appears to be the only person at school with a clue as to how Aspen feels. 

Popularity, college, Homecoming Court, hot guys - none of these things ever mattered to Aspen. She's been busy trying to rein in her giant mass of blonde curls, keep her stoner mother Ninny away from Toaster, her mom's awful bongo drumming boyfriend, and prevent her best friends Kim and Cass from killing - or kissing - one another. But with Ben sitting next to her in Physics looking all too gorgeous, Katelyn's spirit dogging her steps, and her obsessive snow-globe collecting therapist begging her to remember all the things she wants to forget, Aspen is thrust into a vivid, challenging world she can't control … and doesn't want to.

A darkly funny, emotionally gripping story of opening up, letting go, and moving on, ASPEN is about the best-worst accident of your life ... and what comes next

Review: 4 out of 5 stars

It took me a little while to get in to Aspen, to be honest I almost gave up because of the slow start but I persisted and thankfully I did because it was wonderful!

Aspen Yellow-Sunrise Taylor went from being a normal-ish teen with an obsession for word definitions to a girl everyone wanted to know, this started when she was involved in a car accident which ultimately killed her popular school peer, Katelyn Ryan; Katelyn died but didn’t disappear, her spirit is still following Aspen around.

There was a bit of mystery as we read along trying to piece together what exactly happened on the fateful night of the accident but Aspen is tight-lipped to everyone and doesn’t really remember; I was eager to know what was going on – was Katelyn’s spirit a figment of Aspen’s imagination or was she real? I was intrigued.

There is an unintended love interest in Ben, Aspen’s physics partner and Katelyn’s ex; I wasn’t too sure what to think of their interactions initially but I came to love their connection and exchanges as well as the way they were able to support one another; Ben was a great character who wasn’t without flaws but was great for Aspen.

The secondary characters were all written to perfection; Aspen’s relationship with her hippy mum Ninny was interesting despite it being totally unconventional, I was giggling on numerous occasions from their banter, teasing and her mums crazy antics, Dr Brenda was fabulous and best friends Cass and Kim were amazing, the interactions between all of the characters was written very well.

Rebekah Crane’s writing was crisp and entertaining, her characters weren’t perfect but they were likeable. It was a quick read filled with mystery, humour and a sweet romance. I am definitely interested in reading more books written by this author.

Thank-you to In This Together Media via Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

About the author: 

Rebekah Crane fell in love with YA literature while studying Secondary English Education at Ohio University. After having two kids, living in six different cities, and finally settling down in the foothills of her beloved Rocky Mountains, her first novel, PLAYING NICE, was published. ASPEN, her second YA novel, set in Boulder, CO, is due to release in summer 2014 from In This Together Media. She now spends her day carpooling kids or tucked behind a laptop at 7,500 ft high in the Rockies, where the altitude only enhances the experience.

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