the how and the why – Story-eyed Reviews

A poignant exploration of family and the ties that bind, perfect for fans of Far From the Tree, from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand.

Today Melly had us writing letters to our babies…

Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for. They’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—except maybe the one thing she wants. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.

But eighteen years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

Alternating between Cass’s search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who gave her up for adoption, this voice-driven narrative is the perfect read for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.

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I don’t pick up YA contemporary as often as I pick up other genre’s— this year I’ve read a lot of it though, and The How and the Why has been one of the high points throughout that journey.

The How and the Why by Cynthia hand is, at its heart, a story about love, family, and hope. I loved so many things about this book.

First and foremost, this is an emotional book in the best of ways. I am an emotional reader, I tend to read with my heart first and this book took that and tugged me along by the heartstrings again and again. The way Hand writes emotion is also notable too, she does such a good job of writing about the way something feels. Unlike many others who fall into familiar metaphor, I felt the characters emotions because the description was subtle but so accurate and insightful. I felt for these characters, I felt with these characters.

This book also uses alternating storylines that are set in different times, which I thought was a masterful decision for this book. One timeline follows our main character, Cass, as she struggles through her Senior Year in High School, and the other follows Cass’ birth mother while she was pregnant, writing a series of letters to her daughter. The effect was compelling, kept me reading long into the night, and brought on laughs and tears alike.

Lastly, I really liked the characters in this book. They felt real and whole, lived in and alive, and so relatable. Cass herself is a theatre kid at her High School, which I loved. I was also a theatre kid, and all the funny and relatable experiences she goes through, as both a student and theatre nerd, brought me back to all those years of being a theatre nerd myself.

The How and the Why was beautiful, relatable, endlessly readable, and heartbreaking in the best of ways. If you read with your heart and love to love the characters on the page, do yourself a favor and don’t miss this wholehearted, authentic little gem of a debut.

Cynthia Hand is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for teens, including the UNEARTHLY trilogy, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, MY LADY JANE and MY PLAIN JANE (with fellow authors Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows), THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE, and the upcoming novels THE HOW AND THE WHY and MY CALAMITY JANE (also with Ashton and Meadows). Before turning to writing for young adults, she studied literary fiction and earned both an M.F.A. and a Ph.D. in fiction writing. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho, with her husband, two cats, one crazy dog, two kids, and mountain of books.

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