Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

It's been 9 months since London's older brother, Zach, died. They were only a year apart and were best friends, being homeschooled and traveling around the world with their dad's work.

Going to school was awful. London felt like everyone was blaming her for her brother's death. And Zach's closest friend, Taylor, was also her previous boyfriend, and is trying to talk to London again.

Things at home are worse than school, though. London's dad is burying himself into work. And her mom. She has blocked out the world and everyone in it, especially London.

She acts like she lost both of her children, instead of just Zach. But London knows that her mother loved Zach the most, so it probably felt like she lost the best thing of her life.

That doesn't make London want to go home at all. She's always ignored there and it feels like an empty house without Zach.

When a new family moves to town, London finds that she has a new friend. Lili and Jesse, brother and sister, were also previously homeschooled and Lili wants to be London's friend.

As for Jesse, London has this attraction to him that makes her feel alive. Whereas when she's with Taylor, she feels comforted by Zach's memory and the past they all had together.

Will London's family ever become whole again? Is London's attraction to both Jesse and Taylor wrong? Who will she finally pick in the end between the two? Read Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was not exactly what I pictured when reading the cover blurb. First, it's almost Christian Fiction because the father was a missionary and traveled to third world countries, taking his family with him.

Also, this deals with numerous topics. Some I didn't even mention in my overview above.

But even with the various topics, I found myself reading to the end because I wanted to know what really happened to Zach.

The situation with London's family was heartbreaking. Not only did she lose her best friend and brother, but she also lost her parents. Her dad is delving more into his work to hide from the death that happened and her mom...

Her mom makes me angry. Yes, she lost her son, but she has a daughter she needs to remember too. Instead she just ignores her, pretending that she has no more children even though London is crying out for her love after this terrible event happened to their family.

London behaved like I thought a girl broken would act like. She's running on fumes, not knowing what is up and down anymore after losing her main link of life. She's kissing two boys and not knowing what to do with either of them. And she has good days, but they are followed with bad days.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. It wasn't my absolute favorite but it brought up a lot of points and problems that occur in families all over the world and it caught my attention to read until the last page.

For anyone who wants to read about a religious family caught in a situation, a sister trying to get past her brother's death, or a girl trying to find life again, this would be the book for you.