If you’re ever looking for a great YA romance/coming of age standalone, definitely check this book out! It’s admittedly rare for me to read YA, but I do love the genre and this book just grabbed my attention.
The story is about Emmy and Oliver who grew up as best friends and neighbors since they were born until Oliver’s father kidnapped him after school one day when he was just seven years old. Emmy was left behind, dealing with the loss of her best friend and now suddenly extremely over-protective parents…
And then, ten years later, he’s suddenly found and comes home.
“He looked like a stranger, and then he met my glance, and it was like I had never stopped seeing him.”
I read this book by total accident. I just opened it to the first few pages to try it out and before I knew it, I was at 25%, then 50% and then figured I might as well admit I was reading it, lol.
I really loved the writing — it was smooth-flowing, witty, and even though the tone of the book was more serious, I found myself laughing and smiling a lot. It wasn’t intense, but just kept my attention and made me want to keep reading (though there was a bit of a slow spot towards the 60% mark).
I’ll be honest though, I don’t actually have that much to say about it other than it was really good. Has that ever happened to you? Where you really enjoying the book but just don’t have much to say? The story is exactly what it promises to be in the blurb — there are no big twists or surprises. But it’s just very well done. It’s a story that delivered exactly what it promised and delivered it in a beautiful, well-written fashion.
I get asked every once in a while for YA recommendations and this is definitely one I’d suggest. There’s no sex, just some kissing, and it’s almost better described as a coming-of-age story with a light romance in it. It’s a standalone with a complete story. The ending is happy, but shows them going off into their lives now that they’re kind of figured out what they want to do. Because it’s YA, they kind of still have their whole lives ahead of them, but you’re left with the feeling that they’re headed in the right direction. Overall, I really enjoyed it and I’m glad that I read it. Plus, don’t you just love the title and cover? ❤
Rating: 4 stars. Standalone YA coming of age/romance standalone.
