In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Three days after Honor is told her older brother, Finn, died during combat, she gets a letter in the mail from him, before he died.

She doesn't open the letter until the day of his funeral. And what she finds makes her grieve all over again. Finn gave her tickets to see Kyra Kelley, her all time favorite singer and Finn's too, though he wouldn't admit it after awhile. But he wanted Honor to go to her concert in California and tell Kyra about how awesome he was.

Honor was supposed to be leaving for college the day after Finn's funeral. Instead, she packs up his old Impala and starts driving to CA to do his final wish before he died.

The one thing Honor wasn't anticipating was Rusty, Finn's closest best friend, to arrive drunk and passed out in the car right when she was leaving. After Finn enlisted, Rusty didn't talk to Honor anymore and now he's drinking enough liquor to stink up her car.

Instead of kicking him out, she just starts driving. By the time Rusty wakes up, he's already in New Mexico - too late to head back to Texas.

So now Honor is stuck with Rusty on a road trip to do her brother's last wish, while still grieving the one person she loved the most. And let's just say that Rusty is not the best traveling buddy.

Though he does know what to do when the car goes off road during an unexpected thunderstorm. And he does have his mother's house to stop by and fix the poor car halfway to CA.

The trip brings back memories for both Rusty and Honor about Finn, making them laugh in memory. But it also reveals secrets that Honor didn't know about her older brother. Secrets that may destroy Honor completely... Read In Honor by Jessi Kirby to find out what those secrets are.

My Thoughts/Reflections
From the first page of this novel, I knew it was going to be a tear jerker. I actually had tears in my eyes by the second page. And I knew I would finish this in one sitting to read this heartbreaking story, filled with adventure, sorrow, and expectations.

And even though it was sad, I loved this book. There were a few areas that I was not sure about, like the pit stop to scuba dive with strangers, but for the most part I fell more in love with Honor, Rusty and Finn while also feeling a part of my heart break piece by piece.

I've never had anyone close to me die, so I can't imagine how excruciating it was for Honor to not only lose her parents at the age of 4, but then to lose her brother at the age of 18. She has been through so much hardship and then she is expected to go to college and "move on" just like that. So running off to CA for a week sounds like something she needed after this horrible news.

The road trip was good for both Rusty and Honor, who were grieving over Finn's death in different ways.

I really do adore this novel and I think other's could be influenced by this story that Kirby created. Sure, it has an uneven pace going from slow to fast then back to slow but the message of this novel could affect anyone reading it.

I know I will not forget this story any time soon and will recommend it to anyone wanting a story about loss, life, and the potential for a new love.

I'm going to be reading her debut novel soon, since it's at my library, and will be looking out for Kirby's upcoming novel that will be released in 2013!