Here’s a short summary of The Chaos of Standing Still:
Ryn - short for Kathryn - has been battling with a deep, aching grief after her best friend’s death. Feeling survivor’s guilt, anger, and pain after a year is “normal,” says the doctor, but Ryn can’t help the wide chasm of numbness from the car accident. When Ryn is flying back home for Christmas, she’s stuck in the airport after plane rides are canceled for the night. She expects one day of nothingness and boredom before going back, but instead, she accidentally grabs the wrong person’s identical phone - and vice versa - and she goes on a wild goose-chase to find it, meanwhile making...friends...acquaintances on the way. The one problem, though, well, her phone possesses her friend’s last text, and Ryn has been putting off reading it for one year. If she doesn’t find her phone, she’ll never know what her best friend’s last words are.
Here's a short review of the novel:
I have mixed feelings about this novel, but for the most part, it was a good time. The novel dealt through topics of grief, anger, pain, numbness, and found family. The really cool part of the book was the whole novel took place in one single day - twenty-four hours on Christmas Eve. I really appreciated the characters Ryn befriended: a snappy barista, a twelve-year-old genius, and the guy who took her phone. Especially the person who took her phone, who had possibly the most interesting background story. His parents are famous for their books about teaching other parents to handle and take care of good kids, while not being good parents themselves. The whole novel was incredibly bittersweet, and throughout the book, you could feel Ryn’s confusion and hurt. Her best friend was not the perfect angel Ryn made her out to be and was often quite pushy and bordering on the edge of emotionally manipulative. This led Ryn to come to several conclusions about her, and it was really satisfying to read. Plus, it had the mystical, snowy vibe of a closed airport, full of people rushing to and fro, desperate to go to places. Overall, it was a good story with key, integral characters and a nice plot.