Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tori's Review: Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Me Since You by Laura Wiess
Series: None
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 368
Published by MTV Books on February 18, 2014
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Laura Wiess captures the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss and, ultimately, to a strange and unexpected kind of understanding—in this beautiful and painfully honest new novel.

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?
NOTE: I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. 

Before reading this book, I wanted to pick up a nice feel-good contemporary book with a love interest that would make me want to swoon. Imagine my surprise when I cried halfway through reading this book. That's right, guys. I cried during this book. The emotional roller coaster that this book put me through was something that I was not anticipating whatsoever. I honestly had no idea how to cope with the idea that I was crying for a fictional character (I rarely cry for books or movies or TV shows. Just so you know, I did cry for Flat-Out Love though).

At first, this book is not what it seems to be. By reading the summary, you really get no accurate idea of what this book is about. From reading the part where Wiess captures "the visceral emotion of a girl’s journey from innocence to devastating loss," I totally thought the main girl Rowan was going to get raped by somebody (namely Justin from the beginning) and then she was going to have to deal with the emotional trauma of being violated. But as soon as the scene went from happy-go-lucky just-got-busted-skipping-school Rowan's point of view to I'm-a-cop and I've-seen-bad-things Rowan's dad's point of view, I knew that this book was about way more than just the woes of being a sixteen year old girl.

I really don't know how to explain this book without giving major spoilers away. (I read a review of this book halfway through my own reading of it, and I got very mad because the entire plot was spoiled for me in a review marked no spoilers.) But even though the big "twist" was spoiled for me, I was still very shocked and saddened when the twist occurred.
I loved the romance in this book between Rowan and Eli. It was very innocent and seemingly realistic. Things weren't rushed and them sharing a feeling of emotional loss wasn't an incentive for them to hook up. No, they got together and hung out on their own time regardless of what was going on around them. The fact that they had that emotional loss in common was what really kept them together in those three months where Rowan was holed up in her shell, I think.

One thing I didn't really enjoy about this book, though, was the pacing. I get that this a contemporary read and it's supposed to be slow and steady...but I just really wanted some action to go on. I wanted something big to happen, and it just didn't. (Well, you know, until 50% in.) This isn't that big of a deal to me, but I wish that every chapter kept me thoroughly engaged, which didn't happened. I have to admit though that after the prologue (which I totally thought was chapter one...) was over, I was really interested. Sadly, things slowed down about 20% in.

In all, this was an enjoyable read, and it really tug at my heartstrings (does such a thing exist?). I really can't put my emotions into words when describing my feelings. I think if you enjoy a nice, thoughtful read (think Looking for Alaska, Thirteen Reasons Why, I Will Save You, etc.) then this is the book for you. Be sure to pick this up when it hits the shelves in two weeks because, holy cow did this book make me feel things.

8 comments:

  1. You make this book sound great! I'm not a big fan of the romance-helps-girl-recover-from grief ploy, and the slow pacing is a bit of a turnoff, but I love emotions and John Green comparisons. And big twists are wonderful - except for when they are spoiled. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you because spoilers pretty much ruin a book for me.

    Thanks for putting this book on my radar - I'll be looking out for more reviews now!

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    1. I do? I'm going to take this as a compliment! (: And yes, I agree, but romance really didn't affect her recovery whatsoever! He just helped her realize that life doesn't suck completely. Like I said in my review, I think they just found common ground with one another and leaned on each other to survive the hardships of love and loss. (I'm big on JG comparisons as well, aha.)

      Yes, I wanted to rage because of the spoiler. But I didn't.

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  2. Haha I love that tweet and it's so true! I hate spoilers! I even avoid reading the blurb in most cases bc they often have spoilers which is stupid. Anyways this one does sound very good and I love it when the romance is not rushed to the climax that because insta-lvy and cliché I also find contemps need to be very precise in their pacing. You can't go TOO fast but too slow is boring so I totally get what you mean! Great review, Tori!

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    1. Ah, I know right! I would totally stay away from blurbs if I could, but I'm one of those people that need to know at least a little bit about a book before buying it. xD I hate it when blurbs give away the first half of the book though.

      I agree with you on the pacing! I felt like this book dragged a little bit, but not so much as to make it a boring read.

      Thank you! (:

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  3. Great review, this book sounds great! I really need to finish reading my copy so that I can get my review in before the publishing date!

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    1. Yeah! If you link me once your review is posted, I'd love to read it!
      And you've still got some time. Two weeks! (:

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  4. Sometimes it is SO HARD to review without spoilers. I remember seeing this one on Netgalley but didn't give it much thought beyond the girl on the cover reminding me of Alexis Bledel a little. You make it sound really good, so I might end up getting it when it's out.

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    1. I REVIEWED WITHOUT SPOILERS, lol. I mean, the spoiler was just in the middle of the review, and I was like ._. No. Anyway, I just thought the cover was gorgeous, and the fonts were pretty. Plus I saw some reviews that RAVED so I had to request.

      Yes, check it out! It was really good!

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