Richard Lawson

Set in Boston on the day of a catastrophic bridge collapse the plot of this novel centers around a group of five teenagers whose paths intersect in the hospital waiting room. As they all await the news about their loved ones, they will share secrets, uncover lies and make a traumatic transition into the adult world of grief, mortality and healing.

The author does an amazing job of capturing the fear and anxiety of the high school years. His teenage characters are endearing, frustrating, show more compelling and their suffering is so real and beautifully rendered. YA is not my genre but I truly enjoyed reading this. show less

As a character study, this is solidly good. Skyler was my favorite, and in some way, I wished the novel had focused on her. Jason's was also a compelling story for different reasons. The framing of the novel didn't really work for me, and I didn't buy how the characters interacted with each other. This is very much worth reading as a study in teens dealing with major crisis. 3.5 stars.

An awful accident brings a bunch of teenager together in the waiting area of a hospital: a Boston bridge collapsed during busy traffic and now they are waiting for news. Scott is afraid that his girlfriend Aimee might be amongst the dead. Skyler was on the telephone with her sister when Kate suddenly broke away. Jason and Alex fear the worst about their parents who were on the way to Alexa’s school. And Morgan already knows that her father is not alive anymore. While they are condemned to show more wait in the sterile area without any information, they all recall the last couple of months, what they went through with the loved ones, the good sides and the bad ones. But sharing this feeling of utmost anxiety also brings out things which were long buried and in the morning, they are not the same anymore.

“All we can do is wait” has the classic drama setting: all characters in one place, waiting for the moment when they are either relieved or their biggest fear is confirmed. There is nothing they can do to change the situation, they have to sit and wait for the verdict. No matter what they wish or pray for, their fate is already sealed but they do not know about it.

Richard Lawson makes his young protagonists alternate in the narration. Each chapter is dedicated to one of them and slowly their lives unfold. Thus, we are not constantly in the situation of extreme stress in the waiting room, but look back also on happy moments full of joy and love. But the sword of Damocles of looming over them all the time and inevitable we return to the hospital.

The story is full of emotion, positive and negative ones, and the author created authentic and lovable characters who are credible in their fears and hopes. They already show whom they are going to be in a couple of years and yet, they are still adolescents with great hopes and wishes. Apart from this, there is obviously a lot of suspense because you just want to know what happened to their friends, sister and parents. This just makes you read on and on and on. I really loved the novel even though it is a rather melancholy story that is told. show less

*I received an Advanced Reader Copy from the editor.

Rating: 4 stars (Very good)

Summary: Five teenagers meet in an ER where they reflect on their lives and relationships while waiting to hear if their loved ones have survived a bridge collapse.

Review: I don't usually read contemporary YA, but the premise intrigued me and I can't resist a beautiful cover.

All We Can Do Is Wait's greatest weakness is its uneven opening pages. The prologue neither adds or detracts from the story and makes it show more more difficult to forgive the fact that the first chapter is the probably the worst chapter in the entire book. The text is almost cartoonishly overwritten; the chapter opens "Though his parents could be dead, lost to him forever, there was only one voice Jason wanted to hear just then. As he stood outside the hospital, the day darkening and surreal around him, Jason reached for the familiar, comforting talisman of his phone and opened a voice mail." It's a long, clunky sentence full of redundant clauses.

More bad writing shows up in the second chapter: "She knew she had to take advantage of this likely brief moment, before her brain reminded her of the dire gravity of the situation she was in and she was once again knocked off course." As well as the third: "Alexa was alone, and she felt it, a familiar empty feeling, a confusion and a resignation." Keep reading anyway. When Lawson finally hits his stride halfway through chapter three, he hits it in a big way. His writing comes into its own with lines like "It snatched the laugh right out of Alexa's throat."

Lawson's strengths are his sense of place, the richness of his characters, his nuanced understanding of class, and above all his expert pacing and layering. He deftly balances his characters' narratives in such a way that I was invested in all of their stories and no one was lost in the shuffle. The characters' actions and feelings ring true for the most part; some readers may raise an eyebrow at the character he features in the epilogue.

Bottom line: If you can push through the first forty pages, you'll be rewarded. show less