ARC Review: A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery

Title: A Million Miles Away
Author: Lara Avery
Genre: Contemporary, Romance 
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: July 7th 2015
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Summary: 

When high school senior Kelsey's identical twin sister, Michelle, dies in a car crash, Kelsey is left without her other half. The only person who doesn't know about the tragedy is Michelle's boyfriend, Peter, recently deployed to Afghanistan. But when Kelsey finally connects with Peter online, she can't bear to tell him the truth. Active duty has taken its toll, and Peter, thinking that Kelsey is Michelle, says that seeing her is the one thing keeping him alive. Caught up in the moment, Kelsey has no choice: She lets Peter believe that she is her sister. As Kelsey keeps up the act, she crosses the line from pretend to real. Soon, Kelsey can't deny that she's falling, hard, for the one boy she shouldn't want.

Review: 

I really loved A Million Miles Away and from the summary I knew I would be taking a huge hit in the feels with it. Filled with love, loss, healing and new beginnings A Million Miles Away is bound to break hearts. 

When Kelsey's identical twin sister Michelle dies in a car crash during their senior year Kelsey is missing part of herself. Michelle's boyfriend who is currently stationed in Afghanistan is unaware of her death, and upon video chatting, belles Kelsey is Michelle. Kelsey quickly figures out that if she pretends to be Michelle, then she really isn't gone and Peter won't have to know to pain. But quickly things go from pretend to real when Kelsey begins to fall for Peter. 

I enjoyed the characters in this book they were all developed and had a lot to them. The story is told from Kelsey's point of view, so we can see how she had grown from the start to the end. But there were plenty of times I wanted to scream at her and ask her what the hell she was doing. Obviously she was going through a lot, but she made a lot of dumb choices that didn't just affect her but plenty of other people in the process. I loved Peter, he was honest. He told Kelsey (when Michelle was still alive) that he was terrified to fight, and when she was pretending to be Michelle that he was still afraid. Peter didn't deserve what Kelsey did to him. I was honestly surprised that he took her back in the end. 

Now as much as I loved this book (Which is a whole lot!) there were several big issues with it (and I am not the only one it seems!): 

• No one seemed overly concerned about Michelle's death but her immediate family. A young girl died in your community and people are typically affected by it. Especially to have been a high school senior. Kelsey's friends are more "its been months. You need to start living" It seemed like very little people cared. 
• Everyone was blase about what Kelsey did to Peter. Her mother even says she isn't sure what to do. Umm... Kelsey obviously needed help. She wasn't handling Michelle's death well at all. 
• Kelsey left her dream of being on a dance team in college all over Peter and being in love. It is unbelievable to me.
• The ending of the book tied up too easily. It felt unbelievable. He just accepted that Michelle was dead and moved on to Kelsey? Huh?  

Other then those problems I loved the story line. A Million Miles Away was beautifully written, filled with pain and the power of love. Though it isn't 100% realistic I would read this again if I found the time to do so.

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