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lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
Me since this book
This is such a difficult book to rate! I really am having a difficult time settling on a star rating. Normally I just rate on how enjoyable I found a book, but Me Since You was so thoroughly and heartbreakingly sad can I really say that I enjoyed myself reading it? Mmm, that might be a stretch...
So, if I can't do that, perhaps I should rate on writing quality? Well, actually, if we're going there, the present tense narrative and the unfathomable allergy to pronouns drove me slightly batty, so perhaps not.
I guess, then, the most important question should be whether or not I would recommend others to read it, despite its moroseness. And, surprisingly, the answer to that is yes. It is definitely worth your time, and was extremely thought-provoking and poignant. Excellent brain food. But you'd need to prepare yourself mentally before going in.
So, what is it about? Well, the story follows Rowan, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a police officer who is witness to a double suicide/murder - A mentally unstable man jumps off a bridge with his newborn son right in front of him. Rowan's father struggles to add the weight of this to the endless list of other atrocities he's seen over the twenty years of his career, and might have been able to bear it, but the dashboard cam from his police vehicle captured the whole thing, and the video soon goes viral, attracting all the hate and vitriol you can imagine from anonymous online users who have an opinion on just about everything - including whether or not he did his job properly that day. It's all too much for him, and it's not long before he disappears onto a fog of depression, taking his family - Rowan and her mother- with him.
To me, this is where Wiess excelled. The way she conveyed the father's decent, and the impotent frustration of both Rowan and her mother during this time, was exceptional. To take a man from someone who was always in command, the main authority figure of the family, to someone who can barely dress himself, was a cruel torment. And understandably, Rowan feels equal measures of compassion and rage for his situation. It was like he was there in person, but not in spirit. And was both fascinating and devastating to read.
Then, as a subplot, there is Eli, a local boy who was also there on the bridge that day. He's a sympathetic ear and romance soon develops, but this part was by no means the focus of Me Since You.
Overall, I found the book to be engrossing, and I'm glad I read it, but I can tell you it left me hankering for something much, much lighter afterwards. You've been warned!
3 Stars ★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a difficult book to rate! I really am having a difficult time settling on a star rating. Normally I just rate on how enjoyable I found a book, but Me Since You was so thoroughly and heartbreakingly sad can I really say that I enjoyed myself reading it? Mmm, that might be a stretch...
So, if I can't do that, perhaps I should rate on writing quality? Well, actually, if we're going there, the present tense narrative and the unfathomable allergy to pronouns drove me slightly batty, so perhaps not.
I guess, then, the most important question should be whether or not I would recommend others to read it, despite its moroseness. And, surprisingly, the answer to that is yes. It is definitely worth your time, and was extremely thought-provoking and poignant. Excellent brain food. But you'd need to prepare yourself mentally before going in.
So, what is it about? Well, the story follows Rowan, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a police officer who is witness to a double suicide/murder - A mentally unstable man jumps off a bridge with his newborn son right in front of him. Rowan's father struggles to add the weight of this to the endless list of other atrocities he's seen over the twenty years of his career, and might have been able to bear it, but the dashboard cam from his police vehicle captured the whole thing, and the video soon goes viral, attracting all the hate and vitriol you can imagine from anonymous online users who have an opinion on just about everything - including whether or not he did his job properly that day. It's all too much for him, and it's not long before he disappears onto a fog of depression, taking his family - Rowan and her mother- with him.
To me, this is where Wiess excelled. The way she conveyed the father's decent, and the impotent frustration of both Rowan and her mother during this time, was exceptional. To take a man from someone who was always in command, the main authority figure of the family, to someone who can barely dress himself, was a cruel torment. And understandably, Rowan feels equal measures of compassion and rage for his situation. It was like he was there in person, but not in spirit. And was both fascinating and devastating to read.
Then, as a subplot, there is Eli, a local boy who was also there on the bridge that day. He's a sympathetic ear and romance soon develops, but this part was by no means the focus of Me Since You.
Overall, I found the book to be engrossing, and I'm glad I read it, but I can tell you it left me hankering for something much, much lighter afterwards. You've been warned!
3 Stars ★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
bluebeereads's review against another edition
5.0
Istyria book blog - B's world of enchanted books
*I received this book for free from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!*
Me Since You broke my heart. Shattered it to pieces. Crushed it. It made me cry so much. It was so realistic and it brought back so many memories. But in the end, it healed me again. Heartbreaking but so beautiful.
Me Since You is the story of Rowan Areno, a sixteen-year-old girl whose life is divided in Before and After. Before she was a normal girl, maybe a little too sheltered by her dad, who was a police officer, and her mother. After she’s a girl whose life was destroyed after that one day in March. If only she had known that day what would happen in the weeks that followed. She would’ve never left campus to cut school if she’d known that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences for her and her family. She finds a soul mate in Eli, a boy who was a witness to the crime and is haunted by losses of his own. But can she learn to be happy again?
I’m so glad I got a chance to read this book even though it made me cry so much. Laura’s writing is so engaging and realistic and she got everything right. It brought back memories of when my grandmother died and in a way, that’s a good thing because that means she did a good job with this book. And it shows how awful people can be when something tragic happens. I mean… People can be so mean. I was shocked at how the people in these books reacted to the events that took place. And because it was so realistic, it hurt so much more. This book really broke me and hurt so bad I needed to take a break but I couldn’t. It just pulled me right back into it and didn’t let me go.
I loved Rowena and I understood everything she felt. I’ve been there! She’s really easy to relate too for me. I wanted to jump in the book and give her a big hug and tell her it’ll be okay. And while I’m there, I’m going to punch Nadia in her face. She was the worst BFF you can imagine in this book. Geesh… You can’t expect someone to just move on one month after her dad killed himself… I would really punch her really hard. And I would give Eli a hug too. He’s such a sweetie. I love him.
The romance in this book is not a big thing. It’s just a subtle thing on the side that pops up when it needs to. It didn’t take over the book. It’s still a book about loss, family, acceptance,… It’s not a romance book and I loved that. But the romance was sweet and perfect and just enough to give me a smile when I finished this book.
If you don’t like books that make you cry, don’t read this book because it will make you cry. (Probably.) But I do recommend this book because it’s such a beautiful, brilliantly written book.
*I received this book for free from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!*
Me Since You broke my heart. Shattered it to pieces. Crushed it. It made me cry so much. It was so realistic and it brought back so many memories. But in the end, it healed me again. Heartbreaking but so beautiful.
Me Since You is the story of Rowan Areno, a sixteen-year-old girl whose life is divided in Before and After. Before she was a normal girl, maybe a little too sheltered by her dad, who was a police officer, and her mother. After she’s a girl whose life was destroyed after that one day in March. If only she had known that day what would happen in the weeks that followed. She would’ve never left campus to cut school if she’d known that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences for her and her family. She finds a soul mate in Eli, a boy who was a witness to the crime and is haunted by losses of his own. But can she learn to be happy again?
I’m so glad I got a chance to read this book even though it made me cry so much. Laura’s writing is so engaging and realistic and she got everything right. It brought back memories of when my grandmother died and in a way, that’s a good thing because that means she did a good job with this book. And it shows how awful people can be when something tragic happens. I mean… People can be so mean. I was shocked at how the people in these books reacted to the events that took place. And because it was so realistic, it hurt so much more. This book really broke me and hurt so bad I needed to take a break but I couldn’t. It just pulled me right back into it and didn’t let me go.
I loved Rowena and I understood everything she felt. I’ve been there! She’s really easy to relate too for me. I wanted to jump in the book and give her a big hug and tell her it’ll be okay. And while I’m there, I’m going to punch Nadia in her face. She was the worst BFF you can imagine in this book. Geesh… You can’t expect someone to just move on one month after her dad killed himself… I would really punch her really hard. And I would give Eli a hug too. He’s such a sweetie. I love him.
The romance in this book is not a big thing. It’s just a subtle thing on the side that pops up when it needs to. It didn’t take over the book. It’s still a book about loss, family, acceptance,… It’s not a romance book and I loved that. But the romance was sweet and perfect and just enough to give me a smile when I finished this book.
If you don’t like books that make you cry, don’t read this book because it will make you cry. (Probably.) But I do recommend this book because it’s such a beautiful, brilliantly written book.
sincerelykiwi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
I’ve come to realize that I don’t really like weak characters. Rowan was initially just irritating and annoying but as the novel progressed she just became insufferable.
I also got some serious copganda vibes from this book and seeing when it was released and what was happening in the news around the time of inception and publication, I just can’t look at it the same as I did when I first read it. It’s just a huge no for me.
I also got some serious copganda vibes from this book and seeing when it was released and what was happening in the news around the time of inception and publication, I just can’t look at it the same as I did when I first read it. It’s just a huge no for me.
crystalbooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
A moving story of loss, grief and learning to live without the one you love.
This pain in these pages of the story is ever present, and I cried more than once. Rowan learns to accept, forgive and move on in the ways she can and her story is so real.
This pain in these pages of the story is ever present, and I cried more than once. Rowan learns to accept, forgive and move on in the ways she can and her story is so real.
katejacks's review against another edition
4.0
Me Since You by Laura Wiess is the story of a teenage girl who learns firsthand how one action can tragicaly impact so many lives. It asks a lot of “what ifs” and definitely brings some feelings of second-hand pain for the characters. But ultimately, this book is about moving forward after loss.
katieoliveb's review against another edition
4.0
Me Since You helped me to make the transition back into YA, as I will be taking a class in Young Adult Services this semester. I enjoyed the story. I liked how the protagonist wasn't a "good girl", instead she smoked, drank, and fought with her parents like a true teenagers. I found that the plot was overwhelming at times, the first few chapters outline a very traumatic event which I expected to be almost like an early climax. I was expecting that the rest of the plot would be the characters recovering from this, but instead, bad things just continue to happen. I found that this was a bit much. I did appreciate the fact that the entire story was not centred around the budding romance, instead this story was in the sidelines to support the rest of what happened.
caffeineaddict980's review against another edition
5.0
'What good is a glossy outside, anyway, if all your insides are nothing but a shredded-up mess? Sooner or later whatever's inside comes out, right?"
This book is the most heartbreaking but beautiful novel that focuses around loss and the pain of grief that comes hand in hand with that loss.
Wow.
I have no words for how amazing this book really was.
A difficult read.
This book is the most heartbreaking but beautiful novel that focuses around loss and the pain of grief that comes hand in hand with that loss.
Wow.
I have no words for how amazing this book really was.
A difficult read.
bookswritingandmore's review against another edition
4.0
This book is about a girl named Rowan who's life is changed in the amount of time it takes for her to skip school and get caught. Is it really that simple? Yes, it is because all the events that follow wouldn't have happened the way they did, if Rowan had just been where she should have been. Rowans world is turned upside down and she must find a way to deal with it and continue to go on. This is a powerful and moving story of what grief does to a person and how it is very different for everyone. A can't miss kind of book I just adored.
maggiemaggio's review against another edition
4.0
Here’s what I expected when I picked this book up: creepy, over-protective parents; a girl who’s somehow involved with an awful crime, witnessing a shooting or robbery or something; and then her family being harassed by the criminals or something along those lines. Let me tell you, that is not what this book is about at all. Rowan does cut school and there is a terrible crime (I don’t want to say what because even though it’s at the beginning of the book I still think it’s a spoiler) and it does have devastating consequences on her family, but it’s all so much more subtle and nuanced and devastating than anything I imagined going in.
First off, I loved Rowan’s parents. Maybe it’s because I’m an adult and not a teenager, but I didn’t think they were too sheltering at all. They were just trying to protect her from all the bad in the world, something her father is all too familiar with as a police officer, and trying to help her make good decisions. Sadly Rowan doesn’t always make good choices, which was probably my least favorite part of the book. I didn’t mind the decisions she was making, they just seemed really out of character for her. From getting drunk and fooling around with a much older guy when she was 13-years-old to getting drunk at a party and then wandering around town at 16-years-old, I just didn’t get it. Rowan’s best friend, this annoying girl named Nadia, is certainly a bad influence, but I also didn’t get why Rowan, someone who’s so nice, would be friends with someone like Nadia, who seems pretty awful. I also didn’t understand why Rowan seemed to have no other friends, there must have been nice, normal girls in her town.
Anyway, Rowan witnesses this accident and it’s not so much the horror of what she sees that haunts her, it’s the effect the accident has on those around her that’s so terrible. When the video goes viral the problem isn’t the people or associates of the those who committed the crime, the problem is the general public. People online rush to judgement and leave rude, hurtful, and judgmental comments and people in Rowan’s real life, from her school bus driver to her classmates say terrible things to Rowan. I love the internet, but it also allows people to be real a-holes and that was abundantly, sadly clear here.
There’s really two tragedies in this book, the first one, the crime that starts the story off (also, be warned that the book briefly switches to third person perspective to tell the story of the accident, but then switches back to Rowan’s first person perspective for the rest of the book) and then the tragedy that’s an indirect result of the crime that really comprises most of the story. Me Since You is probably the realest, most terrible portrayal of grief I’ve ever read. It was not easy to read, it was sad and painful and I cried for probably most of the book, but still, in the end I really liked and admired what Laura Wiess did. She certainly didn’t take the easy way out.
As much as I admired the way Laura Wiess handled must of the story, I also thought parts of it dragged which is why, even though I did really liked this book, I didn’t give it more than four stars. At the beginning I questioned why there was so much focus on Rowan’s job at the dry cleaner, but I will say, but the end I liked how that particular story line wrapped up. And as real as Rowan’s grief was I wish she would have relied on Eli a little bit more. I liked him tremendously and I was sad he didn’t figure into the story in a bigger way.
Bottom Line: This is a sad book. Get the tissues ready because it’s pretty much one tragedy after another. But it’s so worth it. Sometimes we need to read books that just make us cry and this is definitely one of those and it’s damn good at what it is. Rowan’s grief just seeps through the pages and really love what Laura Wiess did with her story.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.
First off, I loved Rowan’s parents. Maybe it’s because I’m an adult and not a teenager, but I didn’t think they were too sheltering at all. They were just trying to protect her from all the bad in the world, something her father is all too familiar with as a police officer, and trying to help her make good decisions. Sadly Rowan doesn’t always make good choices, which was probably my least favorite part of the book. I didn’t mind the decisions she was making, they just seemed really out of character for her. From getting drunk and fooling around with a much older guy when she was 13-years-old to getting drunk at a party and then wandering around town at 16-years-old, I just didn’t get it. Rowan’s best friend, this annoying girl named Nadia, is certainly a bad influence, but I also didn’t get why Rowan, someone who’s so nice, would be friends with someone like Nadia, who seems pretty awful. I also didn’t understand why Rowan seemed to have no other friends, there must have been nice, normal girls in her town.
Anyway, Rowan witnesses this accident and it’s not so much the horror of what she sees that haunts her, it’s the effect the accident has on those around her that’s so terrible. When the video goes viral the problem isn’t the people or associates of the those who committed the crime, the problem is the general public. People online rush to judgement and leave rude, hurtful, and judgmental comments and people in Rowan’s real life, from her school bus driver to her classmates say terrible things to Rowan. I love the internet, but it also allows people to be real a-holes and that was abundantly, sadly clear here.
There’s really two tragedies in this book, the first one, the crime that starts the story off (also, be warned that the book briefly switches to third person perspective to tell the story of the accident, but then switches back to Rowan’s first person perspective for the rest of the book) and then the tragedy that’s an indirect result of the crime that really comprises most of the story. Me Since You is probably the realest, most terrible portrayal of grief I’ve ever read. It was not easy to read, it was sad and painful and I cried for probably most of the book, but still, in the end I really liked and admired what Laura Wiess did. She certainly didn’t take the easy way out.
As much as I admired the way Laura Wiess handled must of the story, I also thought parts of it dragged which is why, even though I did really liked this book, I didn’t give it more than four stars. At the beginning I questioned why there was so much focus on Rowan’s job at the dry cleaner, but I will say, but the end I liked how that particular story line wrapped up. And as real as Rowan’s grief was I wish she would have relied on Eli a little bit more. I liked him tremendously and I was sad he didn’t figure into the story in a bigger way.
Bottom Line: This is a sad book. Get the tissues ready because it’s pretty much one tragedy after another. But it’s so worth it. Sometimes we need to read books that just make us cry and this is definitely one of those and it’s damn good at what it is. Rowan’s grief just seeps through the pages and really love what Laura Wiess did with her story.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.