The Half-life of Planets Reviews

The Half-life of Planets by Emily Franklin, Brendan Halpin
Review by: Kat

Liana is an aspiring planetary scientist with a penchant for kissing. But when her Summer begins with an anonymous note in her locker labelling her a slut, she reconsiders her pattern and decides to refrain from kissing for the entire summer. She figures it will be easy until she meets Hank. Hank has Asperger’s syndrome. He’s awkward, sweet, funny and completely obsessed with old music. He can tell you a ton of trivia about bands called Love and Kiss but doesn’t know much about loving or kissing. He also has difficulty closing his mouth long enough to actually kiss anyone. An unlikely friendship is struck up between the two who have a lot more in common with one another then you might see at first glance.

The Half-Life of Planets offers a great insight into the world of someone with Asperger’s syndrome. The book is split between Liana and Hank’s perspectives, with each chapter belonging to one character and narrated in their voice. Hank is an incredibly likeable character and even when he behaves in ways others think are weird or crazy, we’re able to see the thoughts and prompts that lead him to those actions or words. You can’t help but cheer him on in his pursuit of ‘normal’ and the one thing he never thought he’d get – a girlfriend who likes him for his differences, not despite of them.

Liana is also a very relatable character, running away from problems and substituting empty kisses for the realer things she craves. She’s smart but still figuring out her place and what she really wants from life.

Though Half-Life starts out a little slow I was ultimately pulled into the world of the characters on a level I haven’t been for quite some time. Half Life is definitely a must read, especially for anyone who has a friend or family member with Aspergers.