Somehow, in the black hole that is the YA Fiction community, I missed the name Emery Lord. She made her debut in 2014 with contemporary novel Open Road Summer and pounded out four more novels after that. It was the 2017 romance When We Collided that finally got her on my radar. Funny, heartwarming, and achingly raw, WWC takes first love and intertwines it with themes of grief and mental health — themes very much needed in the YA genre. Lord’s stories are kind of been-there-read-that, but she separates herself from the rest of the pack with real characters, real thoughts, real life. She perfectly captures the intensity that is the teenage mind, the liminal mind. And her character Paige Hancock, from The Start of Me and You and the 2020 sequel The Map from Here to There, is another one of those great minds.
In TSOMAY, we’re introduced to Paige after losing a boyfriend to a drowning accident. On top of that, she’s dealing with a sick grandmother and a rather unique situation with her divorced parents. She’s a smart girl, but sometimes — well, a lot of the time — she’s an overthinker. Her anxiety would completely consume her if she didn’t have the incredible support of her friends and family. Throughout her healing process, she also makes a new friend named Max. And that’s about all you need to know going in. TSOMAY isn’t all that exciting, but that’s sort of the point. It’s just a slice-of-life about a young girl trying to live her life again.
The friendship is the star of the show, very Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but the loveline is a great supporting actor. It was a slow burn romance, and a natural one at that. Still, I can’t help but wish we’d gotten more of the couple as a couple. (More on that once I get to the sequel.) My biggest complaint wasn’t even the book’s fault. I listened to this on Audible and the voice actor just made Max sound so bizarre. Like a 12-year-old nerd from a 90s sitcom. I’ve enjoyed the actor’s previous work, but mainly because she was voicing older characters. Here, it just felt off. Luckily, all the charm, Max’s cuteness included, was in the writing.
He and I clashed like colors — not armies meeting mid-field in battle. We were green and blue, sometimes in tones too similar to complement. But sometimes as natural as summer sky and the green lawns below.
Moving on to TMFHTT, which wasn’t as pleasant a reading experience. It was a frustrating ride, as it felt like I was reliving the stress of being a high school senior. Being in that weird headspace where you’re questioning everything. Unfortunately, Paige’s anxiety had full control of her as she was in this headspace. I was angry with her the majority of the novel, but oddly enough, this didn’t make me angry with the novel itself. I was glad to have read the TSOMAY first, so I was able to understand Paige and Max. Understand their roots and understand why they were being annoying as hell. Their mistakes, as frustrating as they were, made sense for the characters.
As a reader, I just wanted to see poor Paige take a breath and let things be. It takes her quite a while to even begin doing that, and I appreciated Lord for doing so since anxiety is not an easy thing to conquer in real life. But again, I was really craving more cute coupley moments, especially after the first book’s ending. I love these characters, so the fighting — which was constant — was pretty tough to get through. I wouldn’t call this a cozy Friday night read… but a thoughtful read. One that will make you cringe over silly teenage mistakes but smile over the memories anyway.
**Much thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for providing an ARC of TMFHTT in exchange for an honest review.
The Start of Me and You: ★★★★☆
The Map from Here to There: ★★★★☆
Sara Bechtol 