Mundie Moms

Saturday, May 3, 2014

The Geography of You And Me by Jennifer E. Smith, Book Review


A couple of weeks ago I had the honor to take part in a Transatlantic blog tour for Jennifer E. Smith's, The Geography of You & Me. UK blogger, One More Page, and I featured each other's reviews on each of our blogs. Check out more the tour and read her review here. It was a blast to take part in. Now I wanted to take a moment and share my review of Jennifer's newest release. I know it's shocking, I read, reviewed and loved a YA contemporary. I adore Jennifer's books. 




Published by: Little Brown / Poppy
Released on: 4/15/14
Source: arc from publisher to review
Purchase the Book From: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor. Owen lives in the basement. It’s fitting, then, that they meet in the middle — stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and to San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland, Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and phone calls. But can they — despite the odds — find a way to reunite?                                                                                                                                                                                              

What's not to love about a love story that starts out with two complete strangers meeting in a darkened, stuck elevator/lift in the middle of a power outage in New York City. This was only the beginning of Lucy and Owen's relationship that spans various states, a few countries, and countless post cards and emails. This is one sweet, highly addictive love story I absolutely enjoyed reading. Not only is the relationship Lucy and Owen a realistic one, but the characters themselves felt real. 

I love it when an author introduces me to their imperfect characters. Not only does this make me root for them, it makes the characters relatable on some level. Lucy and Owen were easy for me to love. Their first meeting could have easily turned into a disaster. I mean imagine yourself stuff in a life/elevator with a cute, complete stranger. Not only are you dangling in a stuck life/elevator, it's pitch black and hot in there. I would like to think I would have stayed as calm and collective as Lucy and Owen did. Instead of freaking out, these two talked. Once out of their predicament, instead of going their separate ways, these two shared a memorable night on the roof of their apartment building talking, and forming a bound that span months, and countless miles. 

 Both Lucy and Owen have family struggles, and issues that they each cope with and try and work through as the story goes on. Lucy is sixteen year old who has a heart of gold, and huge dreams to travel over seas, like her parents. Often left alone in the swanky NYC apartment she used to share with her now college bound brothers, she's now by herself when her parents are jet setting around Europe. I really connected with Lucy on an emotional level. She's this fearless, brave girl who won't let anything stand in the way of her dreams. She doesn't let her loneliness consume her, though my heart did break for her. 

Owen himself is a character who's dwelt with his own share of unfairness in life. With dreams of his own to make it to college, Owen finds himself uprooted and caring for a father who's still grieving over the loss of Owen's mom. Not only does this take a toll on the relationship Owen has with his father, it starts to take a toll on him. Owen is just a strong, and resistant seventeen year old. It was incredibly easy for me to fall in love with his character. 

Smith had me rooting for him and Lucy both individually and together. I loved how Lucy and Owen's relationships played out. Each has their own struggles, both of them move, Owen within the states, and Lucy over seas, and then there's that complicated thing with are they in a relationship, or aren't they. It's during this journey that Smith really hooks me with her story. Owen and Lucy's story was addicting. I loved reading about them, and their learning to navigate their own ways through life, and accept things for what they were. They learned to love, move on from it, accept it for what it was, and fight for that loveAll the while doing this, they learn and grow so much individually, and within their family structures. Their relationship is one that plays out in post cards, and emails from NYC, to Chicago, San Fransisco, Seattle, London, Edinburgh, and back to NYC. 

I adore Jennifer E. Smith and her writing style. Her YA contemporary love stories are some of my favorites. Her characters and stories are written in a realistic way, and I love how real they each feel. This story is just as lovely as This is What Happy Looks Like and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. If you haven't yet picked up one of these books, I highly recommend that you do. 

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