I’ll Meet You There

February 10, 2015 ARC, Book Review 1

I received this ARC from Publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’ll Meet You ThereI'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
Published by Macmillan on February 3rd, 2015
Pages: 400
Source: ARC from Publisher
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

My Thoughts:

I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out where to start with this book. I’m no closer to figuring it out than when I started! The twitter version of my thoughts upon finishing:

Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 7.36.51 AM

 

And that’s still where I’m at!! I have no idea how Heather Demetrios wrote such a beautiful story that isn’t flowery at all. It felt so incredibly real to me. Skyler and Josh (and Chris and Dylan and everyone) became more than just characters in a story. I felt like I knew them as people. As they got to know one another and learn how they’d changed, I too got to know them.Their struggles and triumphs mattered. I was just so invested.

The way I’ll Meet You There was set up worked so well. It starts shortly after high school graduation. The main story is divided into three parts: June, July, and August. Within each section the chapters focus on Skyler. Sprinkled throughout are excerpts from Josh. I always like getting more than one perspective, but felt it was really crucial to this story. Seeing these two characters going through everything life threw their way and how their separate struggles made them stronger and brought them together? So powerful.

I’ll Meet You There is one of the most evocative books I’ve read. I couldn’t put it down. Once I started I forgot everything else going on around me… dinner, laundry in the wash, answering my phone, everything. It’s just that good.

Note: Josh is a Marine who was wounded while deployed. Demetrios has some excellent resources and such at the end of the book. You can learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project here.

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