Review: Hello? by Liza Wiemer

Title: Hello?
Author: Liza Wiemer
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Release Date: November 15, 2015

One HELLO? can change a life. One HELLO? can save a life.

Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma's death.
Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.
Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.
Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.
Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.

Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens' stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope.

Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian).

Hmmm...

When I first started this book, I was really annoyed with Tricia. Yes, she was upset. But five months?  If you haven't learned how to live after five months, you need to get help.  Take this from experience.  So I was really, completely unable to sympathize with her. Instead, I found myself more caring for Brian.  I guess she warmed up to me some as time went on.

As far as characters go, Emerson was my favorite.  He seemed the most complex to me.  And he was just so sweet.  But I loved reading Angie's chapters.  The poetry was fun and to read.  And heartbreaking at times.  Having her chapters written as poetry and Brenda's written as screenplays was definitely creative.  It made for an interesting read.

If there's anything that I can complain about with this book, it's that it's predictable and has a LOT of coincidences.  But I suppose that the book relies on coincidences to make it work (so I'm not really complaining about that one).

Overall?

This was a pretty enjoyable contemporary read.  If you like contemporary and are more into a book for characters than the plot, I highly recommend this.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.