Never Ending - Hardcover

Bedford, Martyn

3.63

615 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385739915 ISBN 13: 9780385739917

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books, 2014

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A suspenseful tragedy laced with romance, Never Ending will take you from the past—a steamy vacation in Greece that’s cut short by the unfathomable—to the present—a lake-side clinic stay—to the truth in between.

“What do you deserve, Siobhan?”
“I don’t deserve to forget he’s dead. Even for a moment.”
“I asked what you do deserve, not what you don’t.”
“I deserve not to be forgiven."

Shiv's brother Declan, her best friend, is dead. It's been all over the news. Consumed by grief and guilt, she agrees to become an inpatient at the Korsakoff Clinic. There she meets Mikey. Caron. The others. They share a similar torment. And there, subjected to the clinic's unconventional therapy, they must face what they can't bear to see.

Shiv is flooded with flashbacks, nightmares, haunting visions of Declan on their last, fateful family vacation in Greece. And with memories of Nikos, the beautiful young man on the tour boat. It started there, with him, beside the glittering sea . . . the beginning of the end.

“The characters and the scenery are rendered with such photographic precision that readers will feel as though they’re watching a film.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Bedford skillfully pushes and pulls at the reader’s emotions while carefully revealing the details of the backstory and the aftermath until the two converge.” —Booklist, Starred

“Part-mystery, part-romance, and part-disturbing portrait of how fragile the human psyche can be, this novel is provocative and not for the faint of heart.” —SLJ

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About the Author:

MARTYN BEDFORD has written five adult novels, including The Houdini Girl (Vintage), and an acclaimed YA novel, Flip. A former journalist, he teaches at Leeds Trinity University College. Martyn lives in West Yorkshire, England, with his wife and two daughters.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Fifteen-year-old Shiv and her 12-year-old brother, Declan, accompany their parents to Greece for a two-week vacation. Just before they are scheduled to leave, tragedy strikes and three of them return home to bury the fourth. Shiv is consumed by guilt and overwhelmed by grief, believing beyond the shadow of a doubt that Declan’s death was completely her fault. Unable to function, Shiv allows herself to become a resident at the Korsakoff Clinic, where she will undergo their brand of nontraditional, progressive treatment. Five other teens who bear the wreckage of similar losses constitute the rest of the residents. When asked what she would have done differently, Shiv struggles to find an answer. She is unable to erase the happy time spent on the island with Nikos, the handsome young man with whom both Shiv and Declan were enamored, yet Nikos figures prominently in the late-night motorcycle race on the steep and winding roads of the island that resulted in grievous injuries and death. Alternating chronological stories of the vacation with the stay at the clinic, Bedford skillfully pushes and pulls at the reader’s emotions while carefully revealing the details of the backstory and the aftermath until the two converge. Hand this compelling novel to readers who thrive on complex narratives. Grades 7-12. --Jeanne Fredriksen

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