How It Ends

The first chapter, told from Helen's viewpoint as she remembers watching Hanna grow up and how their lives drifted apart, made me tear up. And that pretty much sums up how I felt about this book in general.

I wasn't depressed by the novel, or unduly unhappy after reading it, but so much affection could be felt between Helen and Hanna that it made me miss my grandmother (who died a year and half ago, but who battled Alzheimer's for years before that). A lot of what Hanna feels--in regards to the changes in her 'Gran's' behavior and mannerisms, though different from what changed my grandmother, resonated strongly within me.

Other pieces of How It Ends, such as Hanna's relationship with her boyfriend and the communication block that seemed show more to be in place between herself and her parents, spoke less to me. In regards to her parents, there seemed to be a loss of understanding between Hanna and her parents. In one scene Hanna questions her mother about what she would do if she caught her husband cheating on her.


And I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't her easy, "Divorce him."
...
"You would break up our family?"
...
"I can't stand that you just said that," she said, grabbing a bottle of Italian dressing by the neck and shaking it like she was trying to kill it. "If your father cheated on me, then he made the decision to risk every single thing we had together, knowing that this would destroy us, so no, Hanna, it wouldn't be me breaking up the family, it would be him."

(pages 252-253, How It Ends)

And then a discussion of unconditional love ensues. I think Hanna's viewpoint and her mother's (and her father's for that matter) are so skewed in opposite directions that Hanna can honestly not understand where they are coming from. But you love him, so why wouldn't you forgive him? Throughout the book she struggles with this question. She loves Seth, so she should forgive him because of that love, not because he deserves it or she truly believes he will change.

At times Hanna is an interesting character, but others she is so typically 'teenager' that I grind my teeth in frustration. Maybe because I am beyond the age where I want to hear about petty friendship squabbles or minor dramas involving clothing and nails. Helen, by contrast, is a very interesting woman. She tries so hard to be what Hanna needs, but still Hanna slips away and Helen doesn't understand why (her and her husband Lon are childless, she is Hanna's honorary grandmother). Then as she grows older and more frail everything she ever wanted to tell Hanna--about the truth of her life, about the truth of life in general--becomes vastly important, but it becomes almost impossible.

The ending left me a little hollow inside, from feeling so much tension and emotions throughout the book. Like Hanna I always want to hear stories with Happy Endings when I feel sad, or conflicted with the world. I turn to romances more often when I'm depressed then my normal standby of dark fantasy specifically because I want to read about a tormented relationship that in the end works out happily no matter what ridiculous things happen. Reading about the bittersweet solution the heroine finds to save the world at the cost of her lover, family and life...not so much. show less

My goodness, Laura Wiess certainly knows how to write a book that pulls a punch and demands a raw, emotional response from the reader. By the end of this book, I was sobbing . . . so sad!!!! "How it Ends" deals with life and death, true love, loneliness, heartache and strength of character. At times Hanna's naivety annoyed me and I wanted to shake her, but I loved Helen's story. A truly beautiful, poignant novel that will require a box of tissues to read.

Wow. Laura Wiess REALLY knows how to write a young adult book. I am continually shocked that she's not as well-known or more than Laurie Halse Anderson and the like.

This book alternates between the perspective of Hanna, a 15-16 year old girl, and Helen, Hanna's elderly lady who she has always called Gran. These two were very close when Hanna was a child and, to Helen's chagrin, Hanna spends less time with her now that she has entered high school and discovered boys and parties.

At first, I was annoyed that Helen was so preoccupied with what Hanna was doing and why Hanna wasn't calling her or stopping by as much. "This Helen seems like a pretty together broad," I thought. "She has a loving husband and a lot of things to do. Why is she show more so concerned with the comings and goings of her teenage neighbor?" This question was answered later in the book, so don't let that bother ya too much.

Helen has always tried to shield Hanna from the harsh realities of life. She cared for Hanna for a period of time when her parents were separated and trying to work out their problems, and noticed that the child was always hungry for a happy ending. She tried her best to satisfy this by telling Hanna made-up stories about her own life when she was younger, which Hanna eats up with wide-eyed curiosity.

Here's the rub: as Gran gets older, she starts losing her memory, and forgets the tales she told Hanna. She even forgets the wonderfully romantic lie of how she supposedly met her adoring husband, Lon. The real story is supposedly much, much, much, MUCH less pleasant. While reading, I was wondering how a person could meet a true, lasting love in a way that's not romantic at all. Well, Helen and Lon managed it, and it was terrifying.

Before she succumbs entirely to senility and Parkinson's disease, she writes down her REAL story and has it made into an audiobook for Hanna.

Meanwhile, Hanna spends most of her time mooning over world's biggest slimeball, a perpetually stoned guitarist named Seth. He has no respect for her, treats her poorly, and there's no question that this will end badly.

When Hanna is required to do volunteer hours for school, she requests to spend them caring for Gran, who, due to Parkinson's disease, can no longer walk, feed herself, or even speak. While she cares for Gran, she ends up listening to the audiobook of Helen's life, which she believes to be a work of fiction.

Helen's story could have been a book unto itself. It was absolutely riveting. Hearing it, although she has no idea it's her Gran's life, begins to transform Hanna. She starts to have honest conversations with her mother about important life issues. She starts to realize that there's more to life than being jerked around by a careless boyfriend. She starts to grow up a little.

Helen's ending was not quite a happy one. Hanna, however, has some choices she can make. I strongly urge you to read this book to find out how THIS book ends. show less

How It Ends by Laura Wiess is truly a powerful book in its own right and one that I won’t soon forget. I finished the book in the same manner as I started it – on the verge of tears. I plowed through most of this book at my local book café and I’m sure the crowd around me witnessed a gamut of emotions cross my face as I journeyed through this novel filled with a well crafted plot, perfectly developed characters and a tumultuous end that had be gasping in shock and horror.

The story spans about three years and starts off with Hanna as a sophomore in High School. Her heart is set on getting the attention of Seth, a cool, guitar playing junior. When he finally notices her and they begin a relationship, it’s filled with hurt, show more betrayal and deceit. Confused by his treatment, she begins a community service project taking care of her terminally ill neighbor Mrs. Shoenmaker who is suffering from Parkinson’s. Hanna becomes consumed in the care for this older lady that she grew up with. They spend their time together listening to an audio book which is a story of love, devotion and ultimate sacrifice. This changes how Hanna begins to view her reality and the choices she’s made for herself, but the ending of this story becomes a reality she never imagined possible.

So many intricate characters made up this novel and each came with a back-story that demanded to be told. Some I couldn’t handle and others I wanted to hear more about. But, Hanna’s story was one the will stay with me for quite some time. I came to really care for her character. There were times that she made decisions that had me face palming, but she was so unapologetic about her choices and stood by what she decided that I couldn’t come to fault her. It was like witnessing my best friend make mistake after mistake and I just stood there dishing out the sympathy. Yes, she didn’t make the best of choices, but her growth and discovery along the way made every single mistake she made well worth the journey.

I know I wasn’t supposed to like Seth’s character. He lies, cheats, plays mind games with Hanna, but at the end of the day I felt sorry for him and hoped he achieved his own HEA.

Karate guy Jesse was shear perfection in this story and every time he made an appearance, I sat at the edge of my seat waiting for him to deliver his swoon worthy lines or actions. I knew immediately that beneath this guy that sported dreads, tatts, a leather jacked and rode a motorcycle was someone that deserved better than what life offered him. The scenes that involved this character were my favorite by far.

The ending in this story is one I never, NEVER expected. There was one scene that made me feel revulsion, despair, hurt, and shock. I’m still not sure if the hopelessness of the situation called for such action, but it is what it is and I was left in angst.

This book is not for the faint at heart, it’s filled with heavy themes and desperate decisions that result in pain. I was drawn into the lives of these characters and journeyed with them as they shared their story. I loved this book regardless of how it broke my heart. I’ll definitely make it a point to read Wiess’ other novels. show less

I was expecting something either overly romantic or overly childish in Laura Wiess’s HOW IT ENDS. I’m not sure why, perhaps I just didn’t give the blurb enough thought. I was beyond pleasantly surprised to find a story, however, full of emotion and depth. Wiess has created a beautiful story that transports the reader into the lives of Hannah and Helen and shows us what it means to truly live.

Hannah is your typical teenager. At the beginning of HOW IT ENDS, Helen tells us all about Hannah as she learned to love the girl and then watched her grow up. Hannah is a sweet girl, good where it counts, but like any typical teenager she does have her rebellious side. Her entire life seems to be focused on the cute and at times charming show more Seth. From the moment Hannah lays eyes on him, it becomes her mission to attempt to reel him in. Wiess treats us with one hilarious moment after another as we watch Hannah chase after this teenage boy. Of course we know that Seth couldn’t possibly be good enough for our spunky and intelligent Hannah, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the fun.

Helen watches Hannah from a distance as the young girl she once knew grows into a beautiful young woman. It breaks her heart to watch Hannah grow up and away, but she understands that it must happen. While we follow Hannah throughout HOW IT ENDS, it’s Helen’s story that really pulls the tension into the book. Helen has a secret, a dark past that she was never able to tell Hannah. Instead, when the girl asks about her past, Helen makes up wonderful and quirky stories about a well adjusted and happy girl. Things couldn’t be farther from the truth though and that truth is slowly eating away at Helen. Deciding that she can no longer live with lying to Hannah, she sets out on a journey to document what really happened and show Hannah who the real Helen is.

Wow; that about sums it up for my feelings of HOW IT ENDS. The story was wonderfully complex, full of subplots and depth. One of my favorite aspects was the twists and turns that the story takes. Wiess does a wonderful job of making the story anything but predictable. One moment we’re expecting Seth to sweep Hannah up into his arms and the next moment he’s nowhere to be seen. The same goes with Helen. Whatever we expect the characters to do, I found that they usually ended up doing something completely different or event would unfold in a different manner. It was nice to be able to read a book and not know what was going on next. With the story within HOW IT ENDS, this was particularly lovely because the emotions were so deep and the feelings so raw; I wanted to get lost within the pages and Wiess allowed that to happen.

The character development in HOW IT ENDS is superb and I think that after reading the prologue, this will be evident to most readers. Wiess doesn’t just tell us all about the characters in the beginning of the book and then throw is into the story; instead, she integrates the character development into the story. We slowly learn about the characters, discovering who they are and what their lives mean. Gradually the characters, especially Helen and Hannah, become a part of us and beings that are so real they may as well step off the page. Wiess’s ability to create real people, real flesh and blood beings out of nothing more than a few black words on a grey page is stunning. I’d heard that she was a fantastic writer and now I’ve see that for myself.

The last thing I’ll discuss, and one of the things that really brought HOW IT ENDS to life for me, was the authenticity of the book. Wiess leaves nothing out in terms of discussing Hannah and her teenage life or Helen and her winter years. Hannah is a realistic teenager with the expectations and attitude that I would expect in a real life teenager. Helen’s life is falling down around her and Wiess doesn’t hide that from us. She allows us to experience firsthand the joys and pains that encompass both lives, giving us a clear picture of who these characters are. Wiess really brought Hannah and Helen’s story to life in a completely believable way and I applaud her for this.

If you couldn’t tell already, I have to give top marks to HOW IT ENDS. With the depth of the story and the way the characters tugged at my heartstrings, it’s a wonder that I’m even typing this review up right now instead of sitting and thumbing back through the pages. What’s best, at 304 pages, HOW IT ENDS is the perfect read to last long enough to get really engrossed in the story but not long enough to wear the reader out. I actually felt a nice sense of completion after finishing the book, even if the story and ending left me thinking for days afterward.

I would recommend this book to any Young Adult readers out there and any readers who want to read a book that really makes you feel good inside. This is a beautiful book and I’m excited to go back and read some of Wiess’s other work. show less

How It Ends is too, too sad. Teenaged Hanna has a close bond with her next door neighbors who have been like grandparents to her through the years. Now that she’s older, she wants to be with people her own age and doesn’t make as much time for them. But the neighbors, Helen and Lon, aren’t doing so well; both have health problems and need medications in excess of their insurance. While Hanna tries to make things work with her crush, Helen slips deeper into Parkinson’s hell. It’s too late for Helen to give Hanna advice, but she has left the truth of her life story—a story she had completely re-spun into a fairy tale—for Hanna to hear.

The amazingly well-written story of How It Ends and the book within the book (also called show more How It Ends) had me in tears more than I would like to admit. Another thing I’d really rather not admit is how much I recognize Hanna. Sometimes book characters are incredibly relatable and Hanna is one of them. Even when she made bad choices, I understood why she would make them. I cheered for her when something made her happy and had my heart break when hers did. show less

I was expecting something either overly romantic or overly childish in Laura Wiess’s HOW IT ENDS. I’m not sure why, perhaps I just didn’t give the blurb enough thought. I was beyond pleasantly surprised to find a story, however, full of emotion and depth. Wiess has created a beautiful story that transports the reader into the lives of Hannah and Helen and shows us what it means to truly live.Hannah is your typical teenager. At the beginning of HOW IT ENDS, Helen tells us all about Hannah as she learned to love the girl and then watched her grow up. Hannah is a sweet girl, good where it counts, but like any typical teenager she does have her rebellious side. Her entire life seems to be focused on the cute and at times charming show more Seth. From the moment Hannah lays eyes on him, it becomes her mission to attempt to reel him in. Wiess treats us with one hilarious moment after another as we watch Hannah chase after this teenage boy. Of course we know that Seth couldn’t possibly be good enough for our spunky and intelligent Hannah, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the fun.Helen watches Hannah from a distance as the young girl she once knew grows into a beautiful young woman. It breaks her heart to watch Hannah grow up and away, but she understands that it must happen. While we follow Hannah throughout HOW IT ENDS, it’s Helen’s story that really pulls the tension into the book. Helen has a secret, a dark past that she was never able to tell Hannah. Instead, when the girl asks about her past, Helen makes up wonderful and quirky stories about a well adjusted and happy girl. Things couldn’t be farther from the truth though and that truth is slowly eating away at Helen. Deciding that she can no longer live with lying to Hannah, she sets out on a journey to document what really happened and show Hannah who the real Helen is.Wow; that about sums it up for my feelings of HOW IT ENDS. The story was wonderfully complex, full of subplots and depth. One of my favorite aspects was the twists and turns that the story takes. Wiess does a wonderful job of making the story anything but predictable. One moment we’re expecting Seth to sweep Hannah up into his arms and the next moment he’s nowhere to be seen. The same goes with Helen. Whatever we expect the characters to do, I found that they usually ended up doing something completely different or event would unfold in a different manner. It was nice to be able to read a book and not know what was going on next. With the story within HOW IT ENDS, this was particularly lovely because the emotions were so deep and the feelings so raw; I wanted to get lost within the pages and Wiess allowed that to happen.The character development in HOW IT ENDS is superb and I think that after reading the prologue, this will be evident to most readers. Wiess doesn’t just tell us all about the characters in the beginning of the book and then throw is into the story; instead, she integrates the character development into the story. We slowly learn about the characters, discovering who they are and what their lives mean. Gradually the characters, especially Helen and Hannah, become a part of us and beings that are so real they may as well step off the page. Wiess’s ability to create real people, real flesh and blood beings out of nothing more than a few black words on a grey page is stunning. I’d heard that she was a fantastic writer and now I’ve see that for myself.The last thing I’ll discuss, and one of the things that really brought HOW IT ENDS to life for me, was the authenticity of the book. Wiess leaves nothing out in terms of discussing Hannah and her teenage life or Helen and her winter years. Hannah is a realistic teenager with the expectations and attitude that I would expect in a real life teenager. Helen’s life is falling down around her and Wiess doesn’t hide that from us. She allows us to experience firsthand the joys and pains that encompass both lives, giving us a clear picture of who these characters are. Wiess really brought Hannah and Helen’s story to life in a completely believable way and I applaud her for this.If you couldn’t tell already, I have to give top marks to HOW IT ENDS. With the depth of the story and the way the characters tugged at my heartstrings, it’s a wonder that I’m even typing this review up right now instead of sitting and thumbing back through the pages. What’s best, at 304 pages, HOW IT ENDS is the perfect read to last long enough to get really engrossed in the story but not long enough to wear the reader out. I actually felt a nice sense of completion after finishing the book, even if the story and ending left me thinking for days afterward.I would recommend this book to any Young Adult readers out there and any readers who want to read a book that really makes you feel good inside. This is a beautiful book and I’m excited to go back and read some of Wiess’s other work. show less