The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets The End of the F***ing World in this dark young adult comedy about four unlikely friends dealing with the messy side of grief who embark on a road trip to Graceland.
Asher Hunting wants revenge.
Specifically, he wants revenge on the drunk driver who killed his mom and got off on a technicality. No one seems to think this is healthy, though, which is how he ends up in a bereavement group (well, bereavement groups. He goes to several.) It’s there he makes some unexpected friends: There’s Sloane, who lost her dad to cancer; Will, who lost his little brother to a different kind of cancer; and eighty-year-old Henry, who was married to his wife for fifty years until she decided to die on her own terms. And it’s these three who Asher invites on a road trip from New Jersey to Graceland. Asher doesn’t tell them that he’s planning to steal his dad’s car, or the real reason that he wants to go to Tennessee (spoiler alert: it’s revenge)—but then again, the others don’t share their reasons for going, either.
Complete with unexpected revelations, lots of chicken Caesar salads at roadside restaurants, a stolen motorcycle, and an epic kiss at a rest stop minimart, what begins as the road trip to revenge might just turn into a path towards forgiveness.
MY REVIEW
Four for the Road is a dark and intriguing novel about four unlikely friends dealing with the messy side of grief. This book is a far cry from what I normally read, but I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the premise of this story. And don’t let the fact that this is a young adult book fool you. This book wasn’t afraid to pack a punch and definitely had me wanting to see what would happen next.
Four for the Road is quite the book to experience. It’s a messy, dark tale of grief with romance and humor sprinkled along the way. And while the writing was a bit all over the place, I couldn’t help but think how well the chaotic flow worked for this type of book and how it perfectly echoed the tone. There’s beauty to be found in a book like this and while the story is heartbreaking and certainly not for everyone, I’m glad to have stepped out of my norm and check this book out.
*I received an ARC copy of this book via the publisher, Simon & Schuster, in exchange for an honest review*
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