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Review
“When your heart is wandering and looking for love and you find it, you grab it and hold on to it.
2.5 stars
A dramatic and slightly angsty new adult/coming of age story as two strangers on very different paths unexpectedly meet in the big city. I admit, it was the cover of this book that drew me in – look at it, it’s stunning! But sadly, I just couldn’t get into this one.
Sick of the rules and boundaries imposed upon her by her father, 18 year old Emerson packs up and moves to New York City, desperate to track down her mother who gave her up when she was only a few days old. She doesn’t have much to go on, but she is determined to find what she believes is a missing piece of herself.
Also displaced from all that he knows, Price is a 23 year old farm boy who has been plucked from his perfectly happy life by a father he never knew and brought to New York to live in luxury while attending college in order to make the most of his life. It’s a life he doesn’t like or want, and he’s counting the days until he can return home.
Two people all alone in the big city are brought together by coincidence, or maybe fate? There’s a spark that, though initially unwelcome, very quickly becomes irresistible as they start to fall for each other. They become a touchstone for each other, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop.
But both of them are still searching for something, trying to figure out their lives and where they belong, and they have a journey of ups and downs ahead of them.
My personal life was like a storybook run through the paper shredder. All of my early chapters blown to bits, with nothing to show for where I’d been and what I’d done.
With empty pages behind me, it was time for me to write my own future.
There were parts of this book that I liked – the themes of friendship and family are strong, and the twist in the story added a nice touch (it was hinted at enough that it wasn’t a surprise, but I liked the complexity that it added). But for the most part this story felt a bit disjointed for me. There were key scenes that seemed to be missing, and instead are just mentioned in passing, and as much as I enjoyed seeing Emerson and Price together, I didn’t really feel their connection.
“You’re it for me,” I told her. “Enough for me. For always.”
Price is a great hero – fun, witty, caring, realistic, and such a sweetheart. I think my biggest issue was with Emerson, who I just didn’t like as a heroine. She seemed so spoiled and whiney. I know she’s young, and that certainly can explain some of her behaviour, but from the first few pages where she packed up and left her loving, caring, perfectly reasonable and fabulous father just because he wouldn’t allow her to sleep at her douchbag boyfriend’s house, I thought she was a brat. And with the continued whining and the way she handled certain situations, I just never warmed to her.
This is my first read by this author, and I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I really wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t get invested in it.
It was ok – 2.5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.