The Best Week That Never Happened
In Dallas Woodburn’s magical story of young love, The Best Week That Never Happened, two childhood soulmates, Tegan and Kai, are reunited after a tragic event, opening the door to forgiveness, grace, and healing.
As a child, Tegan visited Hawaii with her parents and met Kai, an artistic, sensitive Hawaiian who introduced her to the beauty of the islands. Their joyful friendship promised to bloom into something more. When Tegan returned home, she and Kai kept corresponding, but close to her high school graduation, Tegan made a decision that wounded Kai and put their relationship in jeopardy. The book’s tension rises as a tragedy and a series of strange events lead up to the best, and most mysterious, week of Tegan and Kai’s lives.
Against a vibrant backdrop of Hawaii’s awe-inspiring beauty, the story moves between the teenagers’ angst and the glory they feel in being young and in love. Tegan narrates, her voice poignant as she explores love’s many facets and expressions. The breakdown of her parents’ marriage adds to her confusion, revealing the vulnerability and courage that love requires. After the tragedy, dreams blur the edges of her reality; she wakes again and again not at home, but in Hawaii, with no memory or record of having traveled there. With their love for each other deepening and their time together running out, Tegan and Kai become desperate to forestall their final separation. Their ultimate solution is satisfying, if somewhat expected.
With its subtle blend of magic and reality, The Best Week That Never Happened reveals much about the power of love to rise above obstacles that seem insurmountable.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
