The Last Wish of Sasha Cade

July 15, 2018
A dying teen leaves her best friend a to-do list.Raquel's best friend, Sasha, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. After the adopted, mixed-race (white, black, and Brazilian) teen expires, Raquel receives a letter from beyond the grave: Sasha has planned an elaborate scavenger hunt for her white pal and enlisted a mysterious stranger to accompany her, Sasha's long-lost birth brother, Elijah. As Elijah and Sasha complete the hunt, the pair grow closer, uncovering secrets from Sasha's past and becoming romantically involved. The quirky premise does its best to elevate this by-the-numbers teen romance but never quite succeeds. Sasha is an excruciatingly insipid character, devoid of depth or development. A chunk of the novel is dedicated to Raquel and Elijah watching Sasha's favorite movies together to learn about who she really was. These films include Mean Girls and The Princess Bride, movies so laughably basic one would be forgiven for entertaining the idea that the novel's big reveal is that Sasha is not as clever and exciting as she thinks she is. The uninspired love story prattles on, encountering obvious speed bumps along the way. Raquel is a bland protagonist, absent of interior life or agency. Elijah is a typical brooding romantic hero, with just enough of a troubled past to be interesting but wishy-washy enough to not have any harsh edges. A tedious and predictable snooze. (Fiction. 12-16)

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October 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-Raquel's worst day is realized when her best friend, Sasha Cade, passes away from cancer. Even though they knew this was going to happen and tried to prepare, Raquel is completely devastated. She tries to go to school and pay attention but struggles to live in the moment and concentrate. When she receives a letter in the mail from Sasha inviting her to visit her grave, Raquel wonders if Sasha has found a way to talk to her from the beyond. Sasha has one last great adventure for Raquel and confides one of her deepest secrets; she's found her biological brother, Elijah. Sasha requests that Raquel follow her clues and share their history with Elijah. While Raquel enjoys her time with Elijah and looks forward to seeing him, she struggles with Sasha's rule to not tell her adoptive parents. Rife with emotion, this whole story is a tearjerker. While Raquel tells this story, the other characters, including both Raquel's and Sasha's parents, are present and distinctive. There are some scenarios that strain credulity, but overall, this is a very easy novel to get drawn into. Give to fans of romance, realistic fiction, and friendship stories. VERDICT Highly recommended for purchase.-Natalie Struecker, Cedar Rapids Public Library, IA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2019
Although Sasha's been dying of cancer for months, Raquel ("Rocki") is still stunned when her best friend is finally gone. But irrepressible Sasha reaches out from beyond the grave via a series of letters through which Rocki meets Sasha's biological brother. Young impressively balances an exploration of grief with the adventure of a scavenger hunt, but the novel's ending feels a little too neat.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)