Review: Since We Last Spoke

Since We Last Spoke by Brenda Rufener
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"My sister Kate told me love was glue, a strong adhesive holding people together. She swore it worked as a protective layer of bulletproof glass, something shatter-free... But if unprotected, love will shatter, too."

It took Aggi Frank 17 years to fall in love with Max Granger, and when they finally admitted feelings for each other, the unthinkable happened. A fatal car accident involving both of their older siblings turns their lives upside down. And with a restraining order in place between the two families, Aggie and Max's seemingly endless love runs cold. Even though they share the same driveway, simply just talking to one another seems like a distant fantasy.

"[Aggi is] every time period of art mixed into one masterpiece. Sharp edges in one spot, rounded corner in another. Eyes I can't figure out..."

Both Max and Aggi cannot rid of the guilt they feel from their older siblings taking their last breaths as they were on the roof of the college science building, their bodies intertwined for the first time. Their guilt is insurmountable, as they are unable to help each other over this tremendous loss. But Aggie and Max eventually reunite at a lake-house party, but as they begin to rebuild their relationship, Aggie's little sister Grace flees from home after their father spirals into a fit of rage.

"When you want someone so bad every inch of your body aches, you'll stop at nothing to get them. You'll dive into freezing lake water, shovel already-shoveled snow, sit on the porch and watch for a shadow in the window, long for a wave..."

"My heart wants her. My brain wants her. Every cell in my goddamn body wants Aggi, and it's time for me to bulldoze through my fears and tell her exactly how I feel."

With the support of friends, Max and Aggie must confront each other and their families in the hopes to rekindle the beautiful love they share for one another. It takes grief and longing to finally reunite Aggie and Max, as well as their families. This book is an uplifting novel of teen love in the face of grief, and the beauty that it creates. This novel is a perfect read for anyone, I believe, because it is not a cliché romance novel- it is a story of how two people can come together again in the face of grief.

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