The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
pages: 360
released: December 2011
publisher: Razorbill
cover love: ♥♥♥♥♥
Dry, sarcastic, seventeen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine – a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it’s undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe – in love, in herself, and even in miracles.(from goodreads)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 1/9/2013 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET
Review:
I’d been curious about reading TPoM for a while now and I finally found a chance to crack it open. When I did, I met Cam Cooper. Seventeen. Samoan. Floridian. Dying of cancer. She’s fully accepted her inevitable diagnosis and has even come up with The Flamingo List (her version of The Bucket List).
Cam’s Flamingo List:
- Lose my virginity at a keg party
- Have my heart broken by an asshole
- Wallow in misery, mope, pout and sleep through Saturday
- Have an awkward moment with my best friend’s boyfriend
- Get fired from a summer job
- Go cow-tipping
- Kill my little sister’s dreams
- Dabble in some innocent stalking behavior
- Drink beer
- Stay out all night
- Experiment with petty shoplifting
Her mom, however, refuses to give up on Cam and get the idea that all she really needs is a miracle. Going based off the knowledge and sketchy directions of her mom’s trippy, pot-head ex-hoyfriend, they head to Promise, Maine. A town you can’t find with GPS. A town that has supposed healing powers.
TPoM wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s cute and funny but a lot of the times, especially in the beginning, it dragged. I kept putting it down, picking it up, putting it down again. It was consistently taking turns between interesting and boring. Cam didn’t grow on me until the very end. Her sarcasm was digestible at first but got old quick and Cam’s love interest, Asher (great name) was the typical, perfect summer hottie you’d expect to meet in a YA novel but nothing about him stood out. The town is what held the most magic for me, the author really left the appeal for the setting. It’s a town built on improbabilities: snow in summer, purple dandelions, flamingo sitings, sunsets that don’t end. Cam herself can’t believe all the weird things that happen in this town, even the fact that she’s becoming stronger and feeling less ill since she stepped into town. But eventually Promise, Maine sways her doubt and breeds hope. And you watch Cam gradually mature and scramble to mend fences before it’s too late.
TMoP had its quirks and its dry spells but it was still a pretty good read. I even got a little teary-eyed when I was done reading it. After spending so much time in Promise, I thought there’d be room for just one more miracle but I was wrong. Wendy Wunder deserves praise for her first book and I look forward to reading her work in the future.
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