Someone You Loved - Review

Someone You Loved

By: Robin Constantine

Publication: June 27, 2023

352 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (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--A deeply emotional and highly romantic tale of two teens who fall in love while grieving the one person who makes their love impossible; in the vein of You've Reached Sam and The Sky Is Everywhere.

Sarah feels unmoored following her boyfriend’s sudden and tragic death. Their love story was cut short after just two sweet months together, and now all Sarah can think about are the moments she and Alex should be sharing. Sarah distracts herself by consoling Ash—her best friend and Alex’s sister—and by rehearsing for the school play and working at her aunt’s cafe. But none of that is as comforting as her nightly talks with Jake.

Jake is not ready to move on. Unable to sleep at night and “mopey”—according to his girlfriend, who doesn’t understand why he isn’t ready to jump back into partying—Jake is wracked with guilt as a witness to Alex’s death. His one source of joy is talking to Sarah. But between their growing closeness and his taking over as captain of the basketball team, Jake worries he is co-opting Alex’s life.

Both can’t help but wonder if they’re betraying Alex—and Ash—by acting on the feelings they can no longer deny. Given all that stands in the way, is their relationship worth fighting for?

As the description says, Sarah was dating Alex when he died. They hadn't been dating long, but she's grieving. Only she doesn't feel like she has the same right to grieve as others. His sister and her best friend, Ash, has been struggling. She has good days and bad, and Sarah wants to do everything she can to help Ash while also grieving herself. She doesn't go to their house much anymore, and she tiptoes around some things with Ash not to make her cry or break down. One of those things is Alex's best friend Jake. Ash doesn't blame Jake for the accident, but he is a constant reminder of her brother's death.

Jake is struggling also, but he's in therapy for witnessing his best friend's tragic death. He wants to reach out to Alex's girlfriend to ensure she's okay, but he doesn't know how it will be received. See Jake actually had a crush on Sarah first, but Alex is the one who ended up dating her. Sarah appreciates how she can talk about Alex with him in a way that she can't with his other friends or even Ash. They begin talking on the phone at night because they both have trouble sleeping.

Jake and Sarah have a slow-developing relationship. They start out as acquaintances and almost allies in their grief. They officially build to secret friends and even more. But the hiding and sneaking around threaten what they've built together. They have a story where they both have to work on themselves apart from their relationship. Yes, each character helps the other through their grief and struggles, but neither solves all the problems that the other faces.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are spoilers, so I'll have to leave them out. I did get frustrated with the characters at a time of two. I mean, they are teenagers, so poor decisions are bound to happen. But what I liked most of all was how realistic everything felt. Things that might have been dramatized weren't. Sarah is grieving, but thankfully, she wasn't in love with Alex or her grief would have been even worse. Jake was present, and the two had been drinking, but he's never villanized by their friends or especially Alex's family. Sarah occasionally lies to her mom. I like how her mom doesn't exactly let her off the hook for them even while feeling compassion for her. Yet, Sarah also doesn't like lying even when she does it, she feels really guilty. Not guilty enough not to but...believable. I can't say that I loved Mike and his marijuana usage, but I did like how he seemed to utterly adore Ash. I also liked how the relationship with Buzz played out.

A lot of jumbled ramblings all to say that Someone You Loved gets 4 Stars. Have you read Someone You Loved? What did you think? Let me know!

Can't Wait for Someone You Loved

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.

Someone You Loved

By: Robin Constantine

Expected Publication: June 27, 2023

352 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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

Goodreads description--A deeply emotional and highly romantic tale of two teens who fall in love while grieving the one person who makes their love impossible; in the vein of You've Reached Sam and The Sky Is Everywhere.

Sarah feels unmoored following her boyfriend’s sudden and tragic death. Their love story was cut short after just two sweet months together, and now all Sarah can think about are the moments she and Alex should be sharing. Sarah distracts herself by consoling Ash—her best friend and Alex’s sister—and by rehearsing for the school play and working at her aunt’s cafe. But none of that is as comforting as her nightly talks with Jake.

Jake is not ready to move on. Unable to sleep at night and “mopey”—according to his girlfriend, who doesn’t understand why he isn’t ready to jump back into partying—Jake is wracked with guilt as a witness to Alex’s death. His one source of joy is talking to Sarah. But between their growing closeness and his taking over as captain of the basketball team, Jake worries he is co-opting Alex’s life.

Both can’t help but wonder if they’re betraying Alex—and Ash—by acting on the feelings they can no longer deny. Given all that stands in the way, is their relationship worth fighting for?

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Top Ten Books with Less Than 2000 Ratings on Goodreads

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books with Less Than 2000 Ratings on Goodreads.

I was honestly surprised at the amount of books on my read shelf that had less than 2000 ratings.

1. Surviving Ice (Burying Water, # 4) by KA Tucker (4 Stars)
2. The Fall by Bethany Griffin (4 Stars)
3. Red (True Reign, # 2) by Jennifer Anne Davis (4.5 Stars)
4. An Endless Summer (Summer, # 2) by CJ Duggan (4 Stars)
5. That One Summer (Summer, # 3) by CJ Duggan (4 Stars)
6. The Secrets of Attraction by Robin Constantine (4 Stars)
7. Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark (4 Stars)
8. Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers (5 Stars)
9. Push: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, a Bangin' Body, and the Life You Deserve by Chalene Johnson (5 Stars)
10. Praying the Names of Jesus: A Daily Guide by Ann Spangler (4 Stars)

The Secrets of Attraction - Review

The Secrets of Attraction

By: Robin Constantine

Expected Publication: April 28th 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--Set in the same world as The Promise of Amazing, this smart, surprising, and romantic follow-up to Robin Constantine's debut novel follows two New Jersey teens as they become friends and fall in love. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Mlynowski, and Jennifer E. Smith.

Madison Pryce thinks she's got everything figured out—she's working on a portfolio for a summer art program and hanging with her friends. Plus she has her hot boyfriend, Zach. But then a visit from a family friend turns Maddie's life upside down.

Jesse McMann is still reeling from a breakup that shattered his heart and his band. Then pride (and some goading from his bass player and fellow barista) forces him to find a new drummer—and the inspiration to write music again.

Kismet arrives in the unlikely form of Grayson Barrett, who tries out for Jesse's band, and whose girlfriend is BFFs with the cute girl who orders a chai latte after yoga every Thursday: Maddie. What Jesse and Maddie thought they knew about the secrets of attraction and the rules of romance changes once they start falling for each other.

The Secrets of Attraction has just about everything I’m looking for in a young adult contemporary read. I feel like the description was a bit misleading even if pretty much everything it says is true. Isn’t it weird how the way facts are presents can change your perspective? Makes me worry about our justice system, but that’s a topic for a whole other corner of the internet.

Madison is a smart girl. She’s totally into art in an amazing way. Despite having a couple of mediums that she’s more interested in, I loved that Madison really looked at and picked up any opportunity she could to express herself through art. She’s done models, sketching, painting, graphics, hair, makeup, fashion, photography. I loved how passionate she was about her art. And as the description says she’s working to put together and expand her portfolio in order to get into a summer art program. She did have focus, but unlike the description, I wouldn’t say she has it all figured out. She’s actually a little on the confused and lost side of things. She has a boyfriend but she knows that her feelings aren't all-encompassing like she sees with her best friend Wren and her boyfriend Gray. And she has a close relationship with her mother but knows nothing about who or where her father is. I felt like a bit of her reluctance to commit came from her background with her mother and missing father.

Side note, Madison takes yoga classes and man if The Secrets of Attraction didn’t make me want to sign up to take classes myself.

Jesse is seriously everything you can want in a young adult leading male character. He’s in a rock band. He’s uber-talented. He plays guitar like only a natural can, and he even writes his own songs. He works a part-time job at a coffee shop. And he’s had his heartbroken. Jesse’s ex-girlfriend, Hannah, slept with his best friend and fellow bandmate, Duncan. Now Hannah & Duncan are an item and Jesse is trying to recover from the betrayal all around. But Jesse’s desire to get Hannah back in the beginning of this book really bothered me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a story about forgiveness, and I really admire and praise when a character can rise above and offer that grace and mercy to someone else. But Hannah wasn’t seeking his forgiveness—only his acceptance. So how Jesse thought and felt about Hannah was sometimes hard for me to get behind.

Jesse and Madison have a slow building relationship. They both bring a bit of baggage to the table—but in real life, who doesn’t? I also liked how Madison doesn’t agonize over being away from Jesse for the summer. She still plans on doing her summer art program no matter what. I did find it a bit odd that there really wasn’t any thought put into what Jesse will be doing in the future. I guess he’s aiming for a band/music related future, but it was never specifically stated.

If I had to complain about one thing, I’d really have to tackle the slang modern-day speech. It wasn’t all the time or so much that I just had to roll my eyes, but there were a few times when it bugged me. This was just something I mentally noted and moved on. Oh and Madison’s mom was really annoying to me. Her reasons behind her actions were NOT justified. She felt almost more immature to me than Madison did. I don’t want to say too much around that because I don’t want to spoil anything.

Favorite quotes:

-Money. The Grim Reaper of dreams.

-“Have to see a girl about a logo.”

-“I feel so small—like when I’m sitting here and looking up, I realize that nothing is ever still, those stars are constantly imploding and dying and new ones are born, and we’re on some spinning hunk of rock in the middle of the galaxy and when you look at it that way, […], you realize how insignificant we really are, and it’s scary, but then you wonder, how can we be alone? It’s pure arrogance to think we’re all alone in the universe, and it’s a nice thought—the not being alone” {I realize he’s talking about aliens, but I related this to God.} … “Well, when I’m playing…when I close my eyes, it’s like for a split second, just a sip of time, I understand stuff and I’m part of everything. And I know there’s something more—can physically feel connected to it, can feel it going through me. So that’s it, that’s where I go…”

The Secrets of Attraction was more than I was expecting. It was more than I was hoping for. I didn’t want to put it down and thankfully I was in a place where I could keep reading. I had no major issues. The Secrets of Attractions gets 4 Stars from me. I obviously missed the “Set in the same world as The Promise of Amazing” from the description, and now I want to go back and read that. Have you read The Secrets of Attraction? What did you think? Let me know!