Review: The Probability of Miracles

Title: The Probability of Miracles
Author: Wendy Wunder
Date Released: December 8th, 2011
Pages: 336
Rating: 5 out of 5

Description:
Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

Review:
Absolutely freaking loved this book!  The Probability of Miracles was a bittersweet novel; bitter because it follows a girl who has cancer, but sweet at the same time because Cam finally opens herself up a little bit at a time, and the town of Promise is absolutely magical.  Purple dandelions?  Seriously?  I want some!

The Probability of Miracles follows Campbell Cooper, a 16 year-old with cancer who has basically lost all hope long before her doctor tells her that there's nothing left that they can do for her.  All she can do now is hope for a miracle.  So, her ambitious mother tries looking for that miracle to save Cam, and then she stumbles upon the small, hidden town of Promise, where purple dandelions bloom, pink flamingoes live, and Cam meets her first love of her life, Asher.  Cam also has a sort of Bucket List, which she calls the Flamingo List and hopes to accomplish everything, from having an awkward moment with her best friend's boyfriend to getting fired from a summer job, before she dies.  

This novel was such a funny and lighthearted-ish read.  There was just something so real about the characters.  I fell in love with Cam, even though she could be cold and sarcastic, it gave her a distinctive personality in the book.  Her mom, Alicia, and her little sister, Perry, were just so optimistic about everything and were kind of like... the light in Cam's life, even though they annoyed the heck out of Cam.

The setting was just absolutely magical.  I kind of imagined it in a Dr. Seuse kind of way, kind of like the setting for The Lorax, but Promsie, Maine was much more better than that because it seemed a bit more realistic. 

The Probability of Miracles was an uplifting story in a way.  All of the miracles that Cam and her family go through really change Cam herself and seeing that development gives you hope about miracles and what they can do.

Overall, I absolutely loved The Probability of Miracles!  I loved everything from the characters, to the plot and the setting.  The novel was written extremely well, too.  I'll definitely be looking forward to any future novels by Wendy Wunder because her debut was absolutely spectacular!

Cover Review:
I really love this color!  The solid bright pink background really makes it pop and highlights the picture in the center, as well as the title.  I also love it when there are cut outs on the cover and a picture revealed.  Really cool cover!  I love it!

Just a side note: I bought this book before I recieved an ARC from the publishers, Razorbill.  But, the problem is that I don't know if I won it or if they actually sent it to me.  So, just in case, I just wanted to thank them anyways.  Thank you for sending it!

Cleo :)

*Description and cover from goodreads.com
**Review copy from bought and received/won (it's unclear as to how I received it) from Razorbill.