A review by lexiww
Meet Me at the River by Nina de Gramont

4.0

“I have thought about my life in terms of monumental moments that can’t be undone.” So muses 18-year-old Tressa, the protagonist in de Gramont’s latest coming-of-age novel (since Every Little Thing in the World, 2010). Tressa is still actively grieving the death of her soul mate, Luke, and blaming herself for the accident that took his life. Compounding the inconceivable tragedy, Tressa is surrounded by family who shunned their relationship when Luke was alive—because he was her stepbrother. Now they’re exasperated by Tressa’s tenacious hold on his death and her lack of drive toward her future. But what no one knows is that Luke regularly visits Tressa at night, a tangible reminder widening the divide between their old world together and her new “after-Luke” life and stalling any movement Tressa makes toward recovery. But how can you be defined by a love that will never exist again? Does true, abiding love ever diminish, even if the one you love is gone forever? De Gramont beautifully straddles fantasy and reality while delving into the dark (and sometimes dazzling) emotions surrounding love and loss. —Lexi Walters Wright, First published September 15, 2013 (Booklist)