Review : The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas
Summary (from Goodreads)When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit.
Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.
As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort.
Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?
Personal Thoughts
Ever since I read Saving June by Hannah Harrington, I've been looking for a book that had similar themes. The Survival Kit was the first book that I came across during my search. Like Saving June, The Survival Kit also managed to pull at my heartstrings with its portrayal of coping with the death of a loved one.
We are introduced to Rose whose mom has just lost her battle to cancer. On her funeral, she finds a Survival Kit i, which is a package that her mom used to create for other people in order to "survive" , in her name. Devastated, Rose refuses to find out the items left by her mother. A few months later, she finally decides to open up the packet. Using one item at a time, Rose begins her slow healing process.
At the beginning of the book, Rose, like anyone else would also have been, was completely shattered by her mom's death. Before her mom passed away, Rose was fairly popular. She was a cheerleader and dated the quarterback, but Rose alienated herself from all the activities that linked her to her old self because they reminded her too much of her mother. Rose underwent a great deal of growth throughout the book. With the help of her mom's Survival Kit, she began to slowly experience life as it should be. I sympathized with Rose so much. Her pain and sorrow was intensely realistic. At times, her voice made me silently cry because I managed to put myself in her shoes and feel her misery. Deep inside me, I yearned for Rose to be happy, although she was a fictional character. Seeing her go through her healing process made me smile. However, things weren't exactly smooth. She faced numerous complications that fazed and impeded her. All of them only made her even more tortured than she already was. With maturity and wisdom, she eventually emerged from all her problems with the help of several people. Rose was a character who matured considerably. For me, it was easy to like Rose as a main character. She was a sweet, caring and unpretentious person. Seeing her come out of her experience as a better person only increased my admiration for her. Overall, Rose was a great main character.
There was something extremely sweet and sugary in the romance in this book. The slow speed at which it progressed was probably one of the reasons. Also, the two characters, Rose and Will, provide a support to each other in their own ways. Will too had lost his father to cancer some time back and so he knew exactly the difficulties that Rose was going through. He started out as being her friend, but their friend eventually bloomed into something more deeper and meaningful. I loved the long talks that they had to get to know each other. I personally thought that they complemented each other very well. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that they were perfect for each other.
Initially, I found Will to be very mysterious. He wasn't a big talker and could be very shy at times. He used to be a hockey player before his father died. He too was going through his own healing process. Will was down-to-earth and really caring. He wordlessly helped Rose out and the love that he felt for her was palpable. To sum up, the romance was really cute and if you like stories without instant love, then you'll love the relationship in The Survival Kit.
I adored every single secondary character in the book. Rose's best friend, Krupa, was one of my favorite characters. I loved how supportive she was. She stuck with Rose no matter what the obstacle was. Also, she helped Rose move on in some way. She tried her best to get Rose to go out and she's also the reason why Rose decided to be more open with Will. Rose's brother, Jim, was the kind of brother I would want my brother to be if I had one. I thought it was really cute that he kept constantly calling her to know how she was doing. Rose's dad, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. His wife's death had left him so utterly lost and fragmented that he even started turning to alcohol. His behavior only further tormented Rose because she had to look after him as though he was the child and she was the parent. I also really enjoyed Rose's grandmother who was honest, blunt and didn't mince her words. Overall, I thought the secondary characters were all very well developed and characterized.
The whole focus of the plot was about moving on from the death of a loved one. The author did a fabulous job at making the situations realistic. Donna Freitas' writing was simply put, gripping. She managed to evoke all sorts of emotions on my part and a book that manages to do that is a good book. However, I felt that certain parts of the book were too slow for my liking. Nevertheless, this was an interesting read.
The Survival Kit was a page turning book which will take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions with its sentimental and poignant story line that will suck you in from the very first page and beautiful characters that you will grow to love and cherish.
Ever since I read Saving June by Hannah Harrington, I've been looking for a book that had similar themes. The Survival Kit was the first book that I came across during my search. Like Saving June, The Survival Kit also managed to pull at my heartstrings with its portrayal of coping with the death of a loved one.
We are introduced to Rose whose mom has just lost her battle to cancer. On her funeral, she finds a Survival Kit i, which is a package that her mom used to create for other people in order to "survive" , in her name. Devastated, Rose refuses to find out the items left by her mother. A few months later, she finally decides to open up the packet. Using one item at a time, Rose begins her slow healing process.
At the beginning of the book, Rose, like anyone else would also have been, was completely shattered by her mom's death. Before her mom passed away, Rose was fairly popular. She was a cheerleader and dated the quarterback, but Rose alienated herself from all the activities that linked her to her old self because they reminded her too much of her mother. Rose underwent a great deal of growth throughout the book. With the help of her mom's Survival Kit, she began to slowly experience life as it should be. I sympathized with Rose so much. Her pain and sorrow was intensely realistic. At times, her voice made me silently cry because I managed to put myself in her shoes and feel her misery. Deep inside me, I yearned for Rose to be happy, although she was a fictional character. Seeing her go through her healing process made me smile. However, things weren't exactly smooth. She faced numerous complications that fazed and impeded her. All of them only made her even more tortured than she already was. With maturity and wisdom, she eventually emerged from all her problems with the help of several people. Rose was a character who matured considerably. For me, it was easy to like Rose as a main character. She was a sweet, caring and unpretentious person. Seeing her come out of her experience as a better person only increased my admiration for her. Overall, Rose was a great main character.
There was something extremely sweet and sugary in the romance in this book. The slow speed at which it progressed was probably one of the reasons. Also, the two characters, Rose and Will, provide a support to each other in their own ways. Will too had lost his father to cancer some time back and so he knew exactly the difficulties that Rose was going through. He started out as being her friend, but their friend eventually bloomed into something more deeper and meaningful. I loved the long talks that they had to get to know each other. I personally thought that they complemented each other very well. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that they were perfect for each other.
Initially, I found Will to be very mysterious. He wasn't a big talker and could be very shy at times. He used to be a hockey player before his father died. He too was going through his own healing process. Will was down-to-earth and really caring. He wordlessly helped Rose out and the love that he felt for her was palpable. To sum up, the romance was really cute and if you like stories without instant love, then you'll love the relationship in The Survival Kit.
I adored every single secondary character in the book. Rose's best friend, Krupa, was one of my favorite characters. I loved how supportive she was. She stuck with Rose no matter what the obstacle was. Also, she helped Rose move on in some way. She tried her best to get Rose to go out and she's also the reason why Rose decided to be more open with Will. Rose's brother, Jim, was the kind of brother I would want my brother to be if I had one. I thought it was really cute that he kept constantly calling her to know how she was doing. Rose's dad, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. His wife's death had left him so utterly lost and fragmented that he even started turning to alcohol. His behavior only further tormented Rose because she had to look after him as though he was the child and she was the parent. I also really enjoyed Rose's grandmother who was honest, blunt and didn't mince her words. Overall, I thought the secondary characters were all very well developed and characterized.
The whole focus of the plot was about moving on from the death of a loved one. The author did a fabulous job at making the situations realistic. Donna Freitas' writing was simply put, gripping. She managed to evoke all sorts of emotions on my part and a book that manages to do that is a good book. However, I felt that certain parts of the book were too slow for my liking. Nevertheless, this was an interesting read.
The Survival Kit was a page turning book which will take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions with its sentimental and poignant story line that will suck you in from the very first page and beautiful characters that you will grow to love and cherish.
Rating |
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 4/5
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