The Geography of You and Me (Review) - Starry-Covered but Bleary-Eyed

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Page Length: 337 (hardcover)
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Poppy

About The Geography of You and Me 
(via Goodreads):

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and—finally—a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

I suppose I should’ve seen it coming when I admitted to myself that I was buying this book solely for the cover that I wouldn't end up enjoying it. Although for $6, it was a pretty decent deal.

The cover? It’s a gorgeous thing. Screams “cute” and “fluffy” and a goddammed cavity.

Another hint that this book isn’t exactly my type.

My fault, then.

This book is an okay story. But that’s just it. Okay. Not “great,” not “lovely,” just a simple “meh.” I mean, I got into it for the first couple of chapters, but not long after that, I began to skim. Skim being skipping over paragraphs and paragraphs, rapidly flipping and flipping and flipping hoping that something, anything happens before I sadly mark this book as a DNF.

This book is strongly mediocre. Strongly, I tell you. There is nothing that makes it stand out, nothing to make it have that ‘pop,’ that something to evoke any memories of Lucy and Owen or any of the meh adventures they’ve been through. Not much is going for it, which is a shame because I really like that cover.

(It’s always about the covers with you, isn’t it, Claudia?)

Yep. #NoShame.

It’s been, what, a couple of days since I last read it? And even now, I’m struggling to remember the detail. What was the main conflict? Something pretty mellow, that’s all I can say. The characters? Unremarkable in every way. Lucy is just that girl with disappearing parents, Owen is just that boy who has something sad in his past. You could apply this to half a dozen characters.

Jennifer E. Smith is one of those big names in contemporary, and chances are you’ve seen some of her books. Don’t let this review dissuade you from reading it, though. I’m going to try out the rest of her novels, too - partially because I’m in need for some sugar-sweet romance.

my rating: dnf

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (Review) ~ Nostalgia is a Ninja

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Page Length: 272 pages (paperback)
Format: eBook
Publisher: Poppy

About Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (via Goodreads):

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night leads them to family and friends, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

Charming, bittersweet, and full of wisdom and heart, this irresistible novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that arise when life and love lead in different directions.

Honestly, this book completely K.O.'d me (in the best way possible). I was not expecting Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between to hit me so hard in the feels, but it managed to do just that, sneaking up on me like a ninja and throwing me completely off guard.

Going into the book, I thought that it was going to be just a quick, "fluffy" book, if you will. But I was so wrong. It was far from a tragic story, but Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between was so bittersweet and relatable that it was hard not to feel emotions while reading. I don't know if most people would be so emotional while reading it, but for legitimately half the book I was crying (for one reason or another). There were not only plenty of scenes where I was sad for the characters and the state of their relationships with each other, but also a lot of the emotions were caused by a lot of feelings of nostalgia. It was really nice to feel so connected to the characters and story while reading since I haven't felt that sort of connection to a book in a while.

Jennifer E. Smith managed to make me fall in love with a cast of characters in a single night, which is a tremendous feat. The character development was so well done despite the short window of time in which the novel takes place, and I seriously have to applaud Smith for her amazing work developing Clare and Aidan.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, despite how much I loved the Jennifer E. Smith books I'd read in the past (especially since I haven't read her other novels in many years). However, I absolutely adored Jennifer E. Smith's newest book. In fact, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between is my favorite one of all.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Page Length: 256 pages
Publisher: Poppy
Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Via Goodreads: On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they'll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions.

~

I absolutely adored two of Jennifer E. Smith's previous books, and cannot wait to give this newest one a try!  I had some mixed feelings about another one of her books (and had to put it aside for a while), but hopefully I'll only have positive feelings about this one.  I am really looking forward to Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, and although it seems a bit heavier than the other books I've read of hers, it still seems pretty fluffy and like a fun book to pick up.  Super excited to get my hands on this one!