A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery Published by Little Brown on July 7, 2015
Genres: Coming of Age, Young Adult
Format: eARC
Goodreads
When high school senior Kelsey's identical twin sister, Michelle, dies in a car crash, Kelsey is left without her other half. The only person who doesn't know about the tragedy is Michelle's boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan. But when Kelsey finally connects with Peter online, she can't bear to tell him the truth. Active duty has taken its toll, and Peter, thinking that Kelsey is Michelle, says that seeing her is the one thing keeping him alive. Caught up in the moment, Kelsey has no choice: She lets Peter believe that she is her sister.
As Kelsey keeps up the act, she crosses the line from pretend to real. Soon, Kelsey can't deny that she's falling, hard, for the one boy she shouldn't want.
A Million Miles Away is an emotionally beautiful, profound love story. It is one of those books that has you thinking about it days after you have finished it. Lara Avery takes grief and sadness and gives you hope. I was amazed with how much I liked it.
There are so many questions you ask yourself as you read this book and many of them can be answered with simple words such as grief and love.
I never hated Kelsey for what she did. No doubt not telling Peter what had happened to Michelle was wrong but as I read the story, I began to understand with why she did it. She was scared, she was sad, she still had this one connection to her sister and she kept it.
Peter is so wonderful. He is such a good, thoughtful, nice guy and loving him was easy. He made the story so much more heartwarming than I had anticipated it would be.
Despite its dreary tone, the story moved along at a pretty fast pace. The writing is wonderful. This is a book with so many feelings, it takes you on both highs and lows but has you rooting for what is best and a happily ever after.
I can’t wait to share this book with my library patrons.
