Riley Witt is running out of time.
Battling Alzheimer’s disease, Riley’s grandmother Mary suffers from memory loss, mood swings, and a tendency to wander off.
As senior year approaches, Riley has to face the reality that the one person she depends on most is slowly fading. Making matters worse, when Mary does remember the past, she tells tales of time travel and visions. As Mary’s version of the past gets more confused, Riley knows they are running out of time together.
But when Riley discovers a guitar belonging to a famous rock star at Mary’s house, the truth behind the crazy tales finally comes out.
SIX STRINGS tells the story of Riley’s journey back to 1973 where she enters a world of music, long-lost family, and first love. Her adventure is all about discovering her past, understanding her present, and figuring out how to step into her future.
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. From the synopsis I was given I expected it to be about a girl who wanted to study music but taking care of her grandmother and having disapproving parents would get in the way. Boy was I shocked!
Whilst the story was partially about those things, without giving too much away, Riley has a whole lot more on her plate than which school to study music at. The thing I liked most about this book was all the little stories were intertwined to make one plot.
I really liked the whole Alzheimer's twist; her grandma wants to tell Riley all about what she can do and why everything has been kept a secret. This would be easy if it wasn't for the fact that Riley's grandma is fighting a battle with Alzheimer's, which causes her to forget where she is and to lose lucidity at any random time.
As someone who has never had to experience losing a relative to this, it was eye opening to see how much it truly can affect families and relationships.
Riley feels obligated to take care of her because her mother, her grandma's daughter is pulling away when everyone needs her the most. I understand it may be too hard for her to watch her mum go through that but that really bothered me. It meant that Riley felt the need to give up her entire summer to take care of her. I think it was really selfish and I still didn't like her mother at the end of the book.
The story started out slowly but as soon as Riley gives in to temptation and looks into what she is the story picks up pace immediately! As for the characters, I didn't like any of them in the beginning, except Nathan. Riley let everyone control her, Lulu made Riley feel worse rather than better, Riley's mum was no help at all and her dad didn't speak up much. However, throughout the book Riley did grow emotionally yet I still think there's more growth to be had. We'll see in the next book *yay*
All in all, I really did enjoy this book but I wish the beginning went a little faster. The cover is absolutely lovely too! That's the image I had in my head when the guitar was mentioned. Really good writing by Jen Sanya Williamson and I cannot wait for the next book:)
About The Author
Jen Sanya Williamson is a graduate of the University of Arizona where she received a BA in creative writing. She spends most of her time with her junior high students, teaching and talking books. When not in a classroom, Jen is writing, watching TV shows from the ‘90s, or cheering on the Wildcats with her husband and children in her adopted hometown of Tucson, Arizona.
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