It takes one second or 180 to change someone’s life but it took one book to change mine. Jessica Park wrote a meaningful, hopeful story that will break and mend your heart. This book left me with tears but also with a smile.
Allison was a girl lost in the foster care system until one man changed her life. She might have a caring stepfather but as she starts her junior year of college, she stays isolated from the world. She is shy, fearful and wants nothing to do with the social life of the students.
When, she takes part unexpectedly in a social experiment, all her walls crumble with the help of one boy, Esben. Esben is carefree, happy, funny and everyone loves him.
Two different people share three minutes that alter their lives and they take a journey full of moments.
I loved both characters and there is so much depth in them. Although, Allison appears as the fragile one and Esben as the positive one, I adored that their roles reversed throughout the book. They both have many dimensions in their characters and they support each other. Allison changes so much with the love of Esben and she gets an inner strength that motivates her. Esben on the other hand is not always the dynamic boy. He is sensitive, with vulnerabilities and a painful past.
The secondary characters are very interesting and sometimes they steal the show. They fill the book and they are so important to the flow of the storyline.
Now, I have to comment about the importance of this story. It might be based on a love story but for me, it is more a life lesson. This book is so motivational, heartbreaking and heartwarming. It shows that between the darkness of this world, there is pure goodness and kindness. It pushes you to do something for someone else, to make someone happy.
You know when you start a book that sometime you will turn the pages and the end will come. When, I finished it , I didn’t see an end but a beginning. A start to be better, to be stronger and more helpful. If there is a chance to change you, as it changed me, then read this story!
