It’s very rare when I pick up a book that can make me cry, but the “Survival Kit” by Donna Freitas has done just that, telling an emotional story about 16-year-old, Rose Madison dealing with the death of her mother.
Everything in Rose’s life was great. She was a cheerleader, girlfriend to the star quarterback of the football team, and she always hung out with her best friend, Krupa. Things start to change when Rose finds out that her mom was diagnosed with cancer. Her mother was a very much loved and respected person in their town, and the doctors began to start calling her “the human miracle” for surviving her chemotherapy the first time around. Then, the treatments stopped workings and Rose’s mother passed away.
After her dad got rid of all her mother’s belongings, Rose finds a brown paper bag in her mom’s closet labeled, “Rose’s Survival Kit” containing an iPod, a picture of peonies, a crystal heart, a paper star, and a paper kite. Rose’s mother made that survival kit to help Rose go on with life without her.
Rose had a strong relationship with her quarterback boyfriend, Chris Williams, but after losing her mother, things take a turn for the worst. She begins to realize that she’s let things between them go to far and becomes physically detached from him, causing them to break up. Her only real comfort comes from Will Doniger. He’s their family gardener, an all-star hockey player, and he knows exactly what Rose is going through because he lost his father to cancer as well. The two quickly form a friendship as they help each other deal with their losses.
When I started reading this book, I promised myself to get through just the first chapter so I could tell if this book was worth reading, but 13 chapters later, I was so wrapped up in the story. Rose is such a strong, dynamic character. After the part when Rose breaks up with Chris, it would’ve been incredibly easy for the author, Freitas to make Chris the bad guy, and Rose could’ve described him as the worst guy ever, but she still continued to love him and respect the guy that he was. Rose’s friends were also important people that impacted the story in one way or another. Her best friend, Krupa was my favorite character. She was funny, smart, and supportive of Rose. She defines what it is like to be a true best friend for being there when Rose needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to just talk to.
“The Survival Kit,” is beautifully written and I loved Freitas’s explanation of each important piece from the kit. The peonies are there to represent growth. At the end of the book, they symbolize how far Rose has come along from grieving to being open to love again. In every chapter that mentioned memories to Rose’s mother, I either teared up or just started to cry because the emotions that Rose felt and the way the author retold those stories fit the plot perfectly.
Freitas’ style of writing is similar to popular authors such as Sarah Dessen, or the author of the “Perfect Chemistry” series, Simone Elkeles. I enjoyed the author’s work because there were so many scenes that could’ve been predictable to me. Every important part had an ending that shocked me. Using great situational irony, Freitas does an excellent job of knowing exactly what to write and when to write it. The “Survival Kit” is definitely one of my favorite books of all time, and I highly recommend this book to anyone.
