The half-life of love / Brianna Bourne.

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Title:

The half-life of love / Brianna Bourne.

Author:

Bourne, Brianna, author.

ISBN:

9781338712667

9780702314186

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

360 pages ; 20 cm

Abstract:

Flint Larson has known when he was going to die since he was eight because of the Half-Life Institute, and he is spending the last forty-one days quietly with his divorced parents; September is a vibrant aspiring scientist who wants to cure "half-life", especially since she has met Flint--but their time together is getting short.

Subject Term:

Death -- Juvenile fiction.

Death -- Psychological aspects -- Juvenile fiction.

Fate and fatalism -- Juvenile fiction.

Parent and child -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Science fiction.

Death -- Fiction.

Fate and fatalism -- Fiction.

Parent and child -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Mort -- Aspect psychologique -- Romans, nouvelles, etc. pour la jeunesse.

Destin et fatalisme -- Romans, nouvelles, etc. pour la jeunesse.

Parents et enfants -- Romans, nouvelles, etc. pour la jeunesse.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / General.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Science Fiction / Romance.

Death

Death -- Psychological aspects

Fate and fatalism

Interpersonal relations

Parent and child

Science fiction

Family members -- Juvenile fiction.

Children -- Juvenile fiction.

Parents -- Juvenile fiction.

Parent-child relationship -- Juvenile fiction.

Parent-child relationship -- Fiction.

Genre:

Psychological fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction.

Psychological fiction.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Teen Fiction Book Hardback	120791003097267	T BOU	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"In The Half-Life of Love , Brianna Bourne offers us a moving and enthralling story that reminds us that love lights our way as we all travel in death's shadow." --Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of In the Wild Light and The Serpent King

Flint Larsen has 41 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes to live. He's known exactly when he's going to die since he was eight years old and half-lifed, a small twinge that tells a person when they've lived half their life. From that moment, Flint's done everything he can to make his death more bearable. Cutting off all his friends, refusing to eat his favorite foods, reading only the most depressing literature by long-dead writers. He plans to spend his final days back in his hometown with his parents, quietly waiting to die.

But then he meets September Harrington, an utter explosion of brilliance and fun, and all his plans fly out the window. September has dedicated herself to curing the half-life, landing a coveted internship at the world-renowned Half-Life Institute. She has her own past that she's refusing to deal with, choosing instead to spend her nights living it up with her friends and her days deep in the lab, where she's working to find a cure.

When their worlds collide, it feels like the start of an epic, once-in-a-lifetime love. Only Flint can't bring himself to tell September he's dying, and September's keeping secrets too. The closer they get, the less time they have together and the more their secrets threaten to destroy everything. Can September and Flint save each other, or are their days numbered from the start?

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Due to an early onset of the scientific phenomenon called the twinge--during which individuals experience a seizure when they're exactly halfway throughout their lifespan--morose 16-year-old Flint Larsen has always known when he was going to die. After his parents spend their life savings trying to make the most of the short time he has left, Flint decides he wants to spend his final 41 days, nine hours, and 42 minutes in Carbon Junction, "the one place I knew wouldn't leave my parents in debt." His plan to quietly wait out his death is derailed, however, when he meets September Harrington, an irrepressibly cheerful teenage scientist whose goal is to cure the twinge. Flint declines to divulge that his life cycle is coming to an end, and as the two spend more time together, he finds himself enjoying his existence for the first time since he was eight years old. The narrative alternates between the pair's perspectives, rendered in distinct, fluid-feeling prose by Bourne (You & Me at the End of the World), occasionally diverting attention away from Flint's ever-present ticking clock and lowering the book's sense of urgency. The novel's assured emphasis on the difference between living and surviving presents a hopeful read. Characters cue as white. Ages 14--up. (Mar.)

Kirkus Review

In a world nearly identical to our own, two teens struggle with tragedy. Flint's existence has unfolded under the shadow of a phenomenon in which people experience a twinge, or medical event, at the halfway point of their lives, revealing the exact date when they will die. Flint and his family have returned to his childhood home of Carbon Junction, where he half-lifed when he was in third grade. When the book opens, his death date is just 41 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes away. Flint is reacting angrily to his heartbroken parents' attempts to help, barely eating, and refusing basic comforts like warm clothing. Carbon Junction is also home to the Half-Life Institute, where the phenomenon is researched. September, a brilliant young woman who interns there, is grieving the death of her 4-year-old sister. At its heart a romance, this alternating narrative juxtaposition of a melancholy but beautiful boy clad in all black and a vibrant girl who only wears bright colors is a familiar opposites-attract setup. The tension between the two is drawn out at length, which should please fans of the genre. The science-fiction elements are less developed but still create a compelling premise that guides the plot and gives ample motivation to the sympathetic characters for the complicated decisions they must make. The main characters are cued White; there are some queer and racially and ethnically diverse secondary characters. A thoughtful, heart-rending story of doomed first love. (Romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

What if you knew when you were going to die? Ask 17-year-old Flint, who does. How? Because he lives in a world where everyone "half-lifes"; that is, they have a seizure which signals that half of their life is over and they have only an equal number of years to live. Flint had his seizure when he was eight, which means he now has 41 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes left. When he accidentally meets beautiful September, he--despite his vow to shut any happiness out of his remaining life to make dying easier--is seriously smitten, as is she. The two quickly fall in love, but Flint makes a terrible mistake: he doesn't tell her he's going to die. What will happen when the secret is revealed? And will September, a brilliant, budding scientist and intern at the Half-Life Institute, find a cure? Readers who have fallen in love themselves--and with these two teens--will hope desperately that she does. But keep a box of tissues nearby just in case.