You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone | Spoiler Free Review

“Sonatas and concertos tell stories. They make you feel every possible emotion, sometimes all within a single piece…they are joy and tragedy and fear and hate and love. They are everything I never say out loud.”

SYNOPSIS:

Eighteen-year-old twins Adina and Tovah have little in common besides their ambitious nature. Viola prodigy Adina yearns to become a soloist—and to convince her music teacher he wants her the way she wants him. Overachiever Tovah awaits her acceptance to Johns Hopkins, the first step on her path toward med school and a career as a surgeon. But one thing could wreck their carefully planned futures: a genetic test for Huntington’s, a rare degenerative disease that slowly steals control of the body and mind. It’s turned their Israeli mother into a near stranger and fractured the sisters’ own bond in ways they’ll never admit. While Tovah finds comfort in their Jewish religion, Adina rebels against its rules. When the results come in, one twin tests negative for Huntington’s, and the other tests positive. These opposite outcomes push them farther apart as they wrestle with guilt, betrayal, and the unexpected thrill of first love. How can they repair their relationship, and is it even worth saving?

PROS:

Wow. This book. This is a book that you can read at any age, and the story resonates with you in a way that so few others do. It deals with family, with betrayal, young love, and how age doesn’t relate when it comes to experience. I love the relationship that we are introduced to in the twins, and how we can completely see them grow together. The twins themselves are interesting, because you are presented with two people who are basically polar opposites forced to share the same space. It’s a really interesting book that ultimately I feel like anyone could enjoy reading.

CONS:

To be honest, I don’t have many quarrels with this book. I love the characterizations, and I feel like there is a lot of room to grow as a debut author. The writing sometimes feels young, and new, but it doesn’t detract from the story as a whole, and ultimately I’m really excited to read future books by Rachel Lynn Solomon.