The Half-Life of Love

Due to an early onset of the scientific phenomenon called the twinge—during which individuals experience a seizure when they’re exactly halfway throughout their lifespan—morose 16-year-old Flint Larsen has always known when he was going to die. After his parents spend their life savings trying to make the most of the short time he has left, Flint decides he wants to spend his final 41 days, nine hours, and 42 minutes in Carbon Junction, “the one place I knew wouldn’t leave my parents in debt.” His plan to quietly wait out his death is derailed, however, when he meets September Harrington, an irrepressibly cheerful teenage scientist whose goal is to cure the twinge. Flint declines to divulge that his life cycle is coming to an end, and as the two spend more time together, he finds himself enjoying his existence for the first time since he was eight years old. The narrative alternates between the pair’s perspectives, rendered in distinct, fluid-feeling prose by Bourne (You & Me at the End of the World), occasionally diverting attention away from Flint’s ever-present ticking clock and lowering the book’s sense of urgency. The novel’s assured emphasis on the difference between living and surviving presents a hopeful read. Characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)