Midnights with You - Review

Midnights With You

By: Clare Osongco

Publication: November 12, 2024 by Disney-Hyperion

368 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--“Where were you thinking of going?”
“Nowhere.”
“Great,” he says lightly, putting the car in gear. “Then we’ll go there.”

Seventeen-year-old Deedee’s life is full of family ghosts and questions she can’t ask. She longs for an escape, but guilt holds her back—that, and the fact that her strict Filipino single mom won’t let her learn to drive. But one sleepless night leads Deedee down a road she never thought possible: secret driving lessons with the new boy next door, Jay, whose turbulent family life also keeps him up until sunrise.

As midnights stretch into days, Jay helps Deedee begin to unravel her past, and as shared secrets blossom into love, Deedee starts to imagine a life where happiness is possible. But the deeper she digs into the trauma that has shaped her, the more that trauma threatens to tear Deedee and Jay apart. Together, these two must decide if the pain they’ve both inherited has the power to choose their fate, or if they have the power to choose for themselves.

Man oh man! What do I say about Midnights with You? I needed a genre change after reading several fantasy books in a row. But I also wanted something that would hook my attention quickly. I've picked up and put down so many books lately. They're all ones I want to read, but I just haven't felt hooked on any characters quickly. And to be honest, Midnights with You didn't hook me too quickly either. The book starts with Deedee's mom berating her. And I wasn't sure I was in the head-space for this kind of book. And really, Midnights with You ended up being an incredibly complex book. 

Deedee's mom has anger issues. And she talks to Deedee so horribly. I mean it's abusive really. The things that she says have affected Deedee deeply. She's begun to think that she's broken, flawed, toxic, unlovable. Her mother refuses to talk about her extended family. And Deedee's dad died several years ago. Since then, Deedee has pretty much no one. She does have one friend at school, bless Suzy's heart. But Deedee doesn't know how to share with Suzy how bad things are at home. And her mom always puts on a front. Deedee is mostly just incredibly sad. All the time. She gets the itch to find out what her mother is hiding. Her extended family. Why she doesn't allow Deedee to do anything because she's scared of her getting hurt, yet her mother's words are often what hurts her the most. And she also begins to feel a little bit rebellious. That leads her to the desire to learn to drive. 

Jay is the boy next door, and his family is struggling also. His parents have divorced, and they moved. His older sister is away at college. And he's working to help fill in financially and fill the fatherly role for his younger sister as much as possible. His mom depends on him a lot. And while she's not quite as mean constantly as Deedee's mom, Jay's mom can say some pretty hurtful things to him as well. Deedee runs into Jay late at night and they go for a drive. In the end, she asks him if he'll teach her how to drive. But then she backs out. They end up making a deal where she will tutor him in English and history (two subjects he's not doing so hot in) if he will teach her how to drive. 

Of course, Deedee and Jay develop feelings for each other. And this is where the rollercoaster ride begins. Deedee and Jay are both screwed up mentally. And that doesn't make for the healthiest relationship. These two were so hot and cold, on and off, fast and slow. This book was a trainwreck in the best possible way. I couldn't look away. I ended up reading until 1 am one night and forced myself to put this book down at 80% knowing it would take me at least another hour to finish it. Even then I couldn't go to sleep. And I don't normally enjoy "coming of age" stories.

There was something so relatable to me about this story. All of the characters. Even as scary as it sounds, the terrible mother and the partially terrible one. Since becoming a mother, I find it much easier to relate to the mothers in books. And even though, I can say that I don't treat my kids like Deedee's mom, I know I've slipped up and said hurtful things to my kids. I've behaved in ways that I've had to apologize for. All of this story was heartbreaking.

Favorite quotes:

-She's given me a good life, and I'm grateful. And the way she treats me hurts, too. Both things are true.

-"You know how they say, your trauma isn't your fault, but it's your responsibility?"

-You did a bad thing and you can learn from it. You can know why you did it. You can work on it. You can be different. You can change, because you want to change.

-"Maybe if you change the way you think about the past," I say, voice hard-edged, "you'll be able to make some different decisions. Today, tomorrow, the day after. Maybe if you could tell yourself you didn't deserve it, you would see I don't deserve this, either."

-"Some of the things you do make more sense to me now," I swallow hard as she picks up the letter and slowly opens it with trembling hands. "But some of the things you do aren't okay."

"Coming of age" really is the best description for Midnights with You. It's about growing up, first love, generational curses, depression, anger, and so much more. I didn't quite cry while reading this, and I didn't always "like" this book, but sheesh, it gave me so much to contemplate. It was incredibly complex and well done overall. Midnights with You gets 4 Stars. Have you read Midnights with You? What did you think? Let me know!

This Tiny Perfect World - Review

This Tiny Perfect World

By: Lauren Gibaldi

Expected Publication: February 27th 2018 by HarperTeen

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Penny loves her small-town Florida life—including her boyfriend, Logan, whom everyone expects her to marry. And when she lands a scholarship to the prestigious theater camp of her dreams to explore her love of acting, it’s the beginning of a summer that will change her life. But when she arrives at camp, Penny is thrust into a world of competition and self doubt. And as she meets new friends, including Chase, a talented young actor with big-city dreams, she begins to realize that her own dreams may be bigger than she ever imagined.

Lauren Gibaldi tells the story of a transformative summer for a girl who discovers just how wide the world really is and that maybe the life everyone expects her to lead may not be the one she was meant to have.

This Tiny Perfect World is the third book by Lauren Gibaldi that I've read. While I can't say that Lauren Gibaldi is a favorite author of mine having read these three books, I can say that she's fairly consistent. The biggest correlation between the three books that I've read (The Night We Said Yes and Autofocus) is "coming of age". For some reason coming of age stories aren't usually my favorite. So I don't fault Lauren Gibaldi's writing so much as the plot for these types of stories. The purpose of these types of books is to show how the character grows from the place where they begin the story over a series of conflicts that allow them to learn a lesson resulting in "growing up."

The description of This Tiny Perfect World led me to a few false conclusions about Penny. Without spoiling things for you, I tend to assume that when a character is in a romantic relationship at the beginning of a book then the relationship is doomed. Penny begins the book with a boyfriend yet he's not who the description mentions so I just assumed that Logan was destined to be dropped like a bomb. Things don't go how I expected, but they aren't as far off from what I imagined as they could have been. Logan, himself, was a bit of a struggle for me as a character because he was so whiny and insecure. I struggle with this type of person in real life and I find them doubly annoying in books as well.

As a typical coming of age story, Penny does have quite some growing to do. One of my favorite aspects is how she developed some new friendships without dropping and moving on from her existing friends. Just because she's expanding her view of the world and her potential future doesn't mean that she has to leave her old world and friends completely behind. Although, Penny does have a lot of growing and learning about herself left to do.

My biggest frustration over This Tiny Perfect World centers around Penny's father and his storyline. It was predictable to me, yet I found myself struggling for multiple reasons. My faith for one, but beyond that....Penny finds out a huge secret about her father. And from someone who has had a parent keep a pretty big secret, this isn't so easily blown off as Penny allows it to be. When anyone keeps a giant secret from you, it causes conflict and trust issues that aren't so easily overcome. And you can't just say "I'm the same person you thought I was...well except this part of me" and have that fly. I mean have you guys ever watched a single episode of Catfish? Nine times out of ten the person being deceived can't get over the huge lie that they've been told just because the other person tells them that their feelings toward them were real. Yet, I feel like more than anything, Lauren Gibaldi was taking the politically correct stance on this issue. Because how dare Penny actually take issue with the fact that her father has kept this part of himself secret from her. How dare she possibly be upset by this revelation. No one is allowed to be in control of their own feelings because the media and modern culture has determined that only one response to a situation like this is acceptable. So my issue is that I felt Penny was forced to feel one way because of the political correctness of our time, yet I felt that her response wasn't authentic from the standpoint of someone who's experienced a huge relationship shaking revelation from a parent before.

All of this being said, This Tiny Perfect World was not my favorite book. I read it at a decent speed, but "coming of age" stories just aren't my preference. I don't find that I enjoy reading books that are just about the character learning a lesson or growing only just for the sake of learning a lesson. While I did find Penny's father's secret to be predictable, I didn't feel her response to his revelation to be authentic. I was torn on how things went down with Logan. While things didn't go as I expected, I can't say that I loved what did happen. In the end, This Tiny Perfect World gets 2.5 Stars. Have you read This Tiny Perfect World? What did you think? Let me know!

Can't Wait for This Tiny Perfect World

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

This Tiny Perfect World

By: Lauren Gibaldi

Expected Publication: February 27th 2018 by HarperTeen

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Penny loves her small-town Florida life—including her boyfriend, Logan, whom everyone expects her to marry. And when she lands a scholarship to the prestigious theater camp of her dreams to explore her love of acting, it’s the beginning of a summer that will change her life. But when she arrives at camp, Penny is thrust into a world of competition and self doubt. And as she meets new friends, including Chase, a talented young actor with big-city dreams, she begins to realize that her own dreams may be bigger than she ever imagined.

Lauren Gibaldi tells the story of a transformative summer for a girl who discovers just how wide the world really is and that maybe the life everyone expects her to lead may not be the one she was meant to have.

I've read two Lauren Gibaldi before and enjoyed them both. She's really good at coming of age stories. I don't love the cover for this one, but I want to check it out. What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Autofocus - Review

Autofocus

By: Lauren Gibaldi

Published: June 14th 2016 by Harper Teen

352 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--From the author of The Night We Said Yes comes a fun and heartfelt YA contemporary tale. When Maude decides to search for information about her birth mother, she finds out more than she expected. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Susane Colasanti.

Family. It’s always been a loaded word for Maude, whose birth mother died after giving her up for adoption. With her best friend, Treena, in college in the same town where her birth mother grew up, Maude decides to visit and explore her past. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena doesn’t seem to have time for her—or for helping with her search. Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude, she starts to realize that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

I was pleasantly surprised with Lauren Gibaldi's release last year, The Night We Said Yes. So when I saw Autofocus avaliable for review I was excited to see what was next for Lauren Gibaldi.

Stories about adoption and the journey to find out how much of one's self is from birth and how much is learned is not entirely original. Even though I'm not adopted, I cannot imagine not being curious about my birth family had I been. And that's exactly what's going on with Maude. She's been assigned a photography project about family and she just feels like not exploring her birth family would be leaving out a huge part of herself from the project. The problem is Maude knows very little about her birth mother and nothing about her birth father. The only real thing that Maude knows is that her birth mother went to college for a brief time at FSU in Tallahassee. Fortunately for her, her best friend Treena currently attends FSU.

Autofocus wasn't really about learning about her mother so much as Maude learning about herself. It was one of those "coming of age" stories. And even though those are usually not my favorite, Autofocus is one of the exceptions. Well I mean, it's still not really a "favorite", but it was a decent and enjoyable finding yourself story.

And it's not just Maude, but Maude's friend, Treena, is also going through a similar journey of finding herself. She's not searching for her birth family because she's not adopted, but she's trying to figure out who she is apart from her parents and even apart from Maude. I was frustrated with Treena through a lot of Autofocus, especially, how quickly she was to settle for less than she deserved.

During Maude's trip, Treena was supposed to be there to help her out. Unfortunately, Treena is at the very beginning of a new relationship. You know the one. The stage where nothing else matters but spending time with the new love interest. I can totally relate, but I'm also so glad that I don't have to endure that stage anymore myself. Because Treena's a bit preoccupied, Maude spends most of her journey discovering herself and her story with Bennett, a friend of Treena's from school.

Bennett was great. He's there for Maude in a way that can't help but bond the two together. Of course, feelings develop. And I really enjoyed the build of their friendship to more.

Autofocus is a "coming of age"/"finding yourself" story about a girl trying to learn how much of her is born into her versus how much she's learned and absorbed from her adoptive parents. I could related to her feelings even if I've never experienced those exact feelings myself. I could definitely understand the new relationship feelings and the feelings of a friend you count on not being there. Autofocus left things a bit open ended. Sometimes I prefer my stories to be a bit more wrapped up, and sometimes I like them open. The open ending for Autofocus ended up being a good thing in my opinion. I didn't enjoy this one as much as The Night We Said Yes, but it was still a solid read. Autofocus gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read Autofocus? What did you think? Let me know!

99 Days - Review

99 Days

By: Katie Cotugno

Expected Publication: April 21st 2015 by Balzer + Bray

384 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. “For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who’s never going to forgive me.

I wasn’t sure when I requested 99 Days. "Love triangle" glares from the description. Granted at least there’s a heads up about that. And brothers no less. But love triangles can go either way for me. Some people out and out hate them. I don’t. They just have to be done right for me to enjoy them. So that leads to the question of whether or not 99 Days had a love triangle done right or not. Well…I’ll tell you.

Everything about 99 Days had me flip-flopping. From “this book is better than I expected” to “this book is disappointing me.” Let me start with Molly. Molly messed up, right? She hooked up with her boyfriend’s brother. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Especially when you’re really close to the entire family and have been your entire life. So Molly feels all this guilt over what happened. She feels like she deserves to be treated badly and punished for her part in the fiasco, but at the same time Molly has a victim mentality. All she can see is how she’s being treated. She can’t open her eyes to see past herself to see how she’s treated and is still treating others. Her constant victim thought process was extremely draining for me. Yet, who hasn’t done something that they feel guilty about and wish they could take back? I know I have. But the worst thing that annoyed me about Molly was that this entire book was about her repeating her mistakes. It didn’t seem like she learned very much from them the first time through.

I flip-flopped on which guy I was rooting for. On one hand, the description and even most parts of the book seem to indicate that Molly and Patrick have a really deep connection that has spanned years and years. One of those star-crossed-lovers-no-one-else-will-ever-come-close relationships. I understand that Patrick’s hurt. He’s been betrayed twice. Not just by Molly, but by his brother as well. No one can blame him for feeling the way that he does. At the same time Patrick lashes out in retaliation. He wants Molly to hurt like he’s hurting. But there’s a part of him that wants her back too. I just couldn’t condone his behavior even when I understood it. At the same time, there’s Gabe. He’s the only person who is nice to Molly when she gets back to town. It’s obvious that he still has feelings for her—or that new ones are developing. But there’s something off there as well. Molly keeps describing his kisses as “warm and friendly.” It’s hard for me to root for “warm and friendly”. I mean those are good traits, but they also seem to be lacking as well. There’s an additional aspect having to do with Patrick and Gabe and brotherly love competition that kept me from rooting for Gabe at the same time.

It didn’t take me long to realize that there would be no ending to 99 Days that I would be happy with. Ultimately, this is one of those “coming of age” stories where when I’m finished reading it, I ask myself “what was the point of this book?” and the only thing I can come up with is that Molly learned a lesson. These are not my favorite kind of stories.

99 Days drew me in more than I expected it to. I wanted to keep reading. But I had frustrations with it as well. Aside from flip-flopping on how I felt about the major events and characters, there were also things like name dropping (Ex: J. Crew, Game of Thrones, Kings of Leon, etc). 99 Days also had at least two phrases that I think should be banned from YA literature for overuse—one of which was used three times. It’s the little things, right? But here’s a little thing that’s a positive: after everything went down with Molly and Gabe and Molly leaves for boarding school, she gains weight. Weight gain is a typical sign of depression, which I would say Molly was definitely experiencing, and I loved how this was weaved into the story.

Ultimately, I’m up in the air about how I feel about this story. There were aspects that I liked better than I was expecting, and there were aspects where I was disappointed. I can’t say that I would really go about recommending 99 Days though since I ended up feeling like “what was the point?” after all was said and done. I’d give 99 Days 3 Stars, but I can’t say I’d recommend it to others. Have you read 99 Days? What did you think? Let me know!

No Place to Fall - Review

No Place to Fall

By: Jaye Robin Brown

Expected Publication: December 9th 2014 by Harper Teen

368 pages

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.

When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.

Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.

I started No Place to Fall in a bit of a slump. I had just DNF'd Lailah by Nikki Kelly right before starting No Place to Fall and some of my frustrations from the whole DNF process were rubbing off on my experience with No Place to Fall. I went through a period of time at the beginning of No Place to Fall where I worried that I might DNF it as well, but thankfully by the 30% mark I found myself intrigued and interested rather than frustrated and annoyed.

No Place to Fall above all else is a coming of age story. But unlike coming of age stories that simply revolve around the main character learning about themselves, No Place to Fall also involves Amber learning some valuable lessons about life in general. And that makes all the difference for me.

Amber's spent the summer with her best friend, Devon, being a bit wild. Her older sister kind of started her down this path, but her sister, Whitney, has gone too far. Whitney's married to a drug dealer and has been pulled down by Sammy and into his rough life. So Amber has a vision of what she doesn't want her life to turn into. She doesn't want to become Whitney, but at the same time, she doesn't seem to be wholly invested in the lifestyle that her mother has embraced of church and faith either.

Throughout the summer, Amber's begun to expand her singing audience, and eventually, she dares to dream that her voice might be her ticket out of the small town that she grew up in. Devon's brother, Will, is also musically inclined. He plays the banjo, and he helps Amber on her audition to an arts school to which she's recently applied. Amber's always had a small crush on Will, but throughout their increasing encounters, her feelings for him begin to grow.

Truthfully, there is so much going on with No Place to Fall that it's hard to discuss it coherently without just regurgitating the book. Yet, the plot and details didn't feel overwhelming to me while reading it. I never really thought there was too much going on.

At times, I wanted nothing more than to smack Amber in the head and force her to open her eyes and realize that not only does she deserve better, but she can BE better. Yet, when I think about it, I've often wanted to travel back in time to smack my teenage self as well. So this felt right on the money for me. As a matter of fact, there were several pieces of the puzzle to No Place to Fall that fell really close to home for me, and probably contributed to my overall enjoyment.

I must say that Devon's storyline and character wasn't my favorite. Pretty much every other aspect was a great addition to the process. All the little details. And even the writing style was a huge factor in making this book one that I was able to press on and ended up really enjoying.

Favorite quotes:

-I take a shovel and open up my heart and pour in load after load of grief and anger until everything is level and I can plant nice pretty green grass on top.

-The joy I'd been feeling only moments before gets replaced by something else. Something that feels kind of like grief.

-How many other not-so-special-looks have been passed today?

-Something dangerous streaks through my gut.

-This is no place to fall.

-As Pastor Early prays over me, I feel a simple strength enter through my fingers and my toes. All of these folks, the people of my childhood, are praying for my success. Success that means leaving them.

-If C.A. is worried about a boy not liking her, then who else worries? It must not matter what you look like or where you come from.

No Place to Fall was so much more enjoyable than I expected to be. I'm thankful that I pushed through my lingering frustrations from a reading slump and the beginning issues I had with this one. In the end, No Place to Fall gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read No Place to Fall? What did you think? Let me know!

The Truth About You and Me - Review

The Truth About You and Me

By: Amanda Grace

Expected Publication: September 8th 2013 by Flux

264 pages

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, The Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links suppport giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know.

Goodreads description--Smart girls aren't supposed to do stupid things.

Madelyn Hawkins is super smart. At sixteen, she's so gifted that she can attend college through a special program at her high school. On her first day, she meets Bennet. He's cute, funny, and kind. He understands Madelyn and what she's endured - and missed out on - in order to excel academically and please her parents. Now, for the first time in her life, she's falling in love.

There's only one problem. Bennet is Madelyn's college professor, and he thinks she's eighteen - because she hasn't told him the truth.

The story of their forbidden romance is told in letters that Madelyn writes to Bennet - both a heart-searing ode to their ill-fated love and an apology.

The Truth About You and Me sparked my radar because I love stories about couples with an age gap. My husband and I have 12 years in between us and so I guess I just really relate to these types of stories. Add to that the forbidden aspect of a teacher/student relationship and you've got yourself an equation for scandal and angst.

The Truth About You and Me is written in the style of Madelyn, our sixteen-year old MC, writing a couple of letters to Bennet, the professor. From very early on Madelyn lets us know that this story involves her relationship with Bennet being discovered, so the reader is alerted that this story may not have a happy ending. I thought that where the description says that "their forbidden romance is told through letters that Madelyn writes to Bennet," that these would be love letters passed back and forth between the two, and thus the reader experiences their relationship. While that's kind of the case, it's not actually the way the impression leads you to believe. The letters are written AFTER the relationship has been discovered, not before or during the building of the relationship.

Madelyn is very much sixteen years old. She thinks like a sixteen year old and she feels like a sixteen year old. It's almost difficult to understand how Bennet could possibly not know she was younger. Aside from that, I had a hard time understanding what Bennet saw in Madelyn. It was obvious why Madelyn was attracted to and grew to develop deeper feelings for Bennet over time, but I just never really got why Bennet was in this relationship. I guess maybe Madelyn didn't know the answer to this question herself and so the readers doesn't know either. Because Madelyn was sixteen I found it harder to connect to some of her issues and frustrations. And I think her parents would be more understanding than she gave them credit for.

More than anything, The Truth About You and Me was a coming of age story. I've only found myself using that phrase a handful of times, and each time that's because I find myself thinking "what in the world was the point of this book?" and even questioning whether I wasted my time reading it or not. So I solve that problem by saying "this is a coming of age story" because the main character learns about herself and about life despite how I felt about the way everything ended.

That last paragraph came off a little harsh I think. I did enjoy The Truth About You and Me, and I read it in almost one sitting, but less than 24 hours for sure. Fans of "coming of age" stories will enjoy this one. I'm giving The Truth About You and Me 3 Stars. Have you read The Truth About You and Me? What did you think? Let me know!