In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Title:  In Honor
Author: Jessi Kirby
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Adults -May 8, 2012
Length: 240 pages
Format: hardcover

Description from Goodreads:

Hours after her brother’s military funeral, Honor opens the last letter Finn ever sent. In her grief, she interprets his note as a final request and spontaneously decides to go to California to fulfill it.

Honor gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen Rusty in ages, but it’s obvious he is as arrogant and stubborn as ever—not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. Despite Honor’s better judgment, the two set off together on a voyage from Texas to California. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn’s memory—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?


My Thoughts:

In Honor by Jessi Kirby follows the formula of many road trip books. Someone close to the main character dies and they decide to go on a road trip "in honor" of that person or just to clear their head. This one wasn't that different, but it was still good. Honor and her brother's ex-best friend Rusty go on a trip from Texas to California to fulfill her brother's last wish.  This road trip book kind of threw me for a loop because it didn't turn out/ go the way I thought it would. This is both a good and a bad thing. First for the good, I like when a book keeps me guessing and doesn't follow the typical path I have plotted out in my head for it to follow. Too many books these days are easily predictable. The banter back and forth between Honor and Rusty was hilarious and helped the book along a lot. I will say that I loved it taking place between Texas and California because I actually knew the places they were talking about! Some of my favorite parts were when they were in the '67 Chevy Impala and listening to the old rock tunes (Carry on My Wayward Son!). This reminded so much of the TV show Supernatural which is one of my favorites! I loved how they would mention off the wall little things, like how bad Honor's feet stunk when she would take her boots off! Her and Rusty had such good chemistry. That said, to say I was shocked at the way it turned out was an understatement. I think I was expecting more romance in the story and it just didn't deliver on that part and to be honest it was one of the main reasons I read it. As far as self discovery or learning more about her brother that didn't go as far as it could have either.  There was so much potential in the details and relationships of the characters, but it was kind of left dangling. This is a really hard book to explain without giving away too many details. Let me just say that when it ended I was left with the feeling of oh-that-was-cute-and-good-but-is-that-it? This book gets a 3 STAR rating.