The Art of Losing
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- €9.99
Publisher Description
This “unflinchingly honest and touching” YA debut explores “the ever-complex relationship between sisters, the reality of addiction, and the nature of love in all forms” (Alexandra Bracken, New York Times bestselling author).
On one terrible night, 17-year-old Harley Langston’s life changes forever. At a party she discovers her boyfriend, Mike, hooking up with her younger sister, Audrey. Furious, she abandons them both.
But when Mike drunkenly attempts to drive Audrey home, he crashes—and Audrey ends up in a coma. Now Harley is left with guilt, grief, pain and the undeniable truth that her now ex-boyfriend has a drinking problem.
So, it’s a surprise that she finds herself reconnecting with Raf, a neighbor and childhood friend who’s recently out of rehab and still wrestling with his own demons. At first Harley doesn’t want to get too close to him. But as her sister slowly recovers, Harley begins to see a path forward with Raf’s help that she never would have believed possible—one guided by honesty, forgiveness, and redemption.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Harley's younger sister, Audrey, is in a coma. After 17-year-old Harley walks in on Audrey kissing Harley's drunk boyfriend, she storms out of the party; when he drives Audrey home later, they get into a car accident. It sounds a bit like a soap opera, but debut author Mason deftly moves between past and present to realistically portray Harley's anger, guilt, and shame, and her complicated feelings about her younger sister, whom she sees as prettier and kinder than her, but also not as smart. Harley's neighbor and childhood best friend, Raf, is in AA, and though she's conflicted about having another addict in her life, Raf is different from her ex: he is facing his problems, and he remembers Harley back when she was feisty and confident. As Audrey regains the ability to speak and walk, Harley moves forward as well, learning to trust herself and her feelings and to speak up when she needs to. The interwoven stories of many kinds of love between friends, sisters, and possible romantic partners give this well-paced book a depth that makes it more than just another recovery tale. Ages 14 up.
