Kazh's Reviews > There Will Come a Time

(View this review on My Library in the Making.)

Grief is something we all deal with in different ways: some lash out, some harm themselves, and then there are some like Mark who withdraw from the world. When he and his twin sister, Grace, get involved in a car accident that results to her death, Mark lets the loss take over his life, not knowing how to move on without her and wishing he was the one who'd died instead.

"I'm saying there will come a time when you won't be so angry or in so much pain. It doesn't have to be now. You just have to believe that it'll come and let people in."

There doesn't seem to be an end to Mark's pain, until the long-lost package with Grace's things from the accident finally come in the mail. In it, he and Hanna, Grace's best friend, find a journal filled with Grace's thoughts, things she kept hidden from everyone, and suddenly, the Grace they knew feels like another person from Grace as she knew herself. But aside from the girl's secrets, they also find a bucket list of five things she'd wanted to accomplish that fateful year, and the two decide to honor her memory by completing the list for her.

Bucket lists have always equated to fun for me, but There Will Come a Time kind of ruined that for me because can you imagine completing your dead twin's list? Mark could have faced his pain with his family and friends but because of his anger, both at himself and the other driver who caused the accident, he chose to face it alone. As is to be expected, he doesn't get too far with that, often finding solace at the bridge where the accident took place as he tries to get close to his twin sister, the way they were close since they'd been in their mother's womb.

Because how can you really know joy if you don't know despair? Nothing exists without its opposite.

The list helps Mark in more ways than one, but it also tests the few remaining relationships he has. He learns that he doesn't have sole ownership on the grief over Grace's death and that sometimes, relief starts with forgiveness. I read the second half of this book while watching my family frolic in a river, and that made me appreciate how well the author integrated the Filipino culture into her story. Everything she wrote about Mark's family - down to the amazing food, yes - is just so easy for me to imagine happening in real life. And that's where There Will Come a Time really shines through: with how real and well-written it is. Even if you've never known loss as intense as Mark's, I can promise that this book will be an experience for you. Perhaps a traumatic one, but still.

MY FAVORITE PART was Mark finally knowing forgiveness. Tears.