Book Review: Flight Season

This was a hotly anticipated YA novel released in late winter and it's been on my shelf all this time and I hate that I couldn't get to it sooner!

Flight Season - Marie Marquardt

Back when they were still strangers, TJ Carvalho witnessed the only moment in Vivi Flannigan’s life when she lost control entirely. Now, TJ can’t seem to erase that moment from his mind, no matter how hard he tries. Vivi doesn’t remember any of it, but she’s determined to leave it far behind. And she will.

But when Vivi returns home from her first year away at college, her big plans and TJ’s ambition to become a nurse land them both on the heart ward of a university hospital, facing them with a long and painful summer together – three months of glorified babysitting for Ángel, the problem patient on the hall. Sure, Ángel may be suffering from a life-threatening heart infection, but that doesn’t make him any less of a pain.

As it turns out, though, Ángel Solís has a thing or two to teach them about all those big plans, and the incredible moments when love gets in their way. 

So this book has a fairly annoying main character, Vivi, that normally I wouldn't like and it would make me not want to finish the book. She's 100% clueless, she has no backbone, and she's just tough to love. The we have TJ, who I liked right away even if he was kind of a jerk to Vivi in the beginning. The two know each other, or TJ knows Vivi, because of a really stupid drunken night that Vivi can't remember (which is maybe OK) but TJ remembers it vividly. They find themselves together again at the same hospital as TJ finishes his practicum for nursing school and Vivi needs this internship if she plans to continue at Yale in the fall. It turns out Vivi is not cut out to be a doctor because of her weak constitution so she is paired to be an interpreter of sorts for Angel, gravely ill because of some sick turkeys.

The only thing about this book that knocks it for me is Vivi and I just couldn't grow to love her. I grew to tolerate her but I just didn't love her. What wins it for me is the story of her and TJ and together how they befriend Angel and what they do for him in the end. It looks at illegal immigration and in his dire circumstances I can't imagine someone being sent home when they are actively dying basically. The humanity part of that is just gripping.

Overall? I'm giving this one 4.5 stars and I absolutely loved it. I'm hoping my daughter enjoys it as much as I did.