Review: Waiting by Carol Lynch Williams

Title: Waiting
Author: Carol Lynch Williams
Series: n/a
Book #: 1
Pages: 337
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.77
Published: May 1st, 2012.

After her brother’s death, a teen struggles to rediscover love and find redemption in this gripping novel.

Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach take his own life? Was it London’s fault?

Alone and adrift, London finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and the handsome new boy in town as she struggles to find herself—and ultimately redemption—in this authentic and affecting novel from award-winning novelist Carol Lynch Williams.

Taschima's POV:

"Maybe I'll never get better from Zach's leaving us.
Maybe I'll carry all that around with me forever,
hearing him, finding him,
moving too slow,
moving away too s l o w.


Maybe my curse will be memory forever."

I wasn't able to put down this book. I got it about two days ago in the mail and just picked it up to read the first page and then move along. I read the first page and I couldn't stop.


Waiting has the whole package, the characters, the emotion, the writing... Oh the writing. It is so good. It's like a mixture of poetry and normal paragraphs. All together make up a completely captivating, emotional, enchanting read. My legs wouldn't move, my eyes wouldn't leave the page. I just had to know the whole story of London, Zach, and the family who fell apart.

Waiting is about London, and her family. London and Zach are inseparable, brother and sister, best friends, then again that is what happens when your father is a missionary that goes across the globe spreading the word of God. With an ever changing life style the only constant they have is each other. That is, until Zach dies. This is a story of what happens to a family when the one person who kept everybody together stops breathing. The story revolves around the questions of how did Zach die? And most importantly, why?

I am not a contemporary girl usually. I would read a vampire book over a "normal" book every day of the week. That is, unless the author's name is Carol Lynch Willams. Then I would really find me in a compromising situation. But she is that good. The last book I read by Carol Williams was Glimpse, and that one also rocked my world. From what I can tell this is an author who isn't afraid to show you the grittiest and ugliest parts of life in the most beautiful imaginable form of writing.

The characters were all very interesting. London, Lili, Jesse, Taylor, even Queen Suck Face. But specially London. Her pain became my pain. Some of the decisions she made not everybody will feel comfortable with, but for the story they worked. It is such a sad, emotional read. But I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It really makes you re reevaluate your life and your relationships with the people around you. The ending made me tear up, but then again the whole book did that.

I read it in a matter of hours, and will probably re read it again and again.

Now if you excuse me I am going to go ahead and buy every single YA book written by Carol Lynch Williams. I strongly suggest you do the same.