Review: How I Lost You By: Janet Gurtler

Title: How I Lost You

Author: Janet Gutler

Published: April 23rd, 2013

Buy the Book:  Amazon/Barnes and Noble/The Book Depository

Source: E-Galley From Publisher

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

There are a few things Grace Anderson knows for sure. One is that nothing will ever come between her and her best friend, Kya Kessler. They have a pact. Buds Before Studs. Sisters Before Misters. But in the summer before senior year, life throws out challenges they never expected. And suddenly the person who's always been there starts to need the favor returned. Grace and Kya are forced to question how much a best friend can forgive. And the answer is not what they expected.

My Thoughts:

I was really interested in reading a book by Janet Gurtler I have been trying to expand my reading horizons and read more contemporary because I hope to find some authors that I enjoy, I am happy to say that  I really enjoyed this book, I admit I am not one for contemps that are full of heavy issues but, Gutler gave me the perfect mix, I didn't feel like the book was weighed down  or depressed me with everything I was reading it was perfect. It gave me the feeling I like about  YA, it was definitely a book of firsts and that is one of the things that I love about YA, when you read about a character that is going through something for the first time, and everything is shiny and new. 

Grace was an awesome kick ass YA character, she plays paintball and she is great at it, it is the thing that she loves the most. Her dad owns the paintball arena in her town so she gets to play as much as she wants, her goal is to go to college and get to play on the college all girls paintball team. She loves beating boys and showing them that girls can do anything that they can. 

Kya was her best friend and they had been through a lot together, Kya had a trauma happen in her life that only Grace and her family knew about and she used it as an excuse to get away with everything. Grace brushed off everything that Kya did because of what happened to her, she felt like she was responsible for her and even when it wasn't fair to Grace she gave up things she wanted to do and missed out because of her.

Overall, How I Lost You is the story of one girl growing up and realizing that sometimes  you just have to let people go, Gurtler created characters that you felt compassion towards and by the end of the book I really saw their growth.