Review: Me Since You – Laura Wiess

Posted February 27, 2014 by Andi in Books, Review / 0 Comments

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Title: Me Since You [Amazon]
Author: Laura Wiess [website]
Publisher: MTV Books
Genre: Contemporary
Source/Type: Edelweiss/Digital  ARC
Stars: 3 of 5

Publisher Description:
Sixteen-year-old Rowan is still reeling from her father’s suicide four months ago, after he failed to stop a man from leaping off an overpass to his death. The only witness is Eli, a teenaged boy wrapped deep in mourning for his own father, killed in action in Afghanistan. When Rowan and Eli meet, they recognize kindred spirits, and begin to navigate grief and its aftermath together.

Rowan can’t understand how her father could choose to leave her, and acts out, pushing away friends and taking risks with her safety. Rowan’s mother, wracked with her own guilt and sorrow over failing to save her husband, stops going to work and collects stray cats for comfort. Grief, fractured and unpredictable, rules their lives now. Rowan is lost—and sinking. But Eli represents a lifeline for Rowan, and as they struggle to make sense of what’s gone and what is left behind, they begin to fall in love.

My Thoughts:
You have no idea how much I wanted to love this book. It sounded so utterly fantastic that I thought there was no way that I wouldn’t love everything about it. Sadly that wasn’t the case. And although I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either.  Me Since You became just another meh book and I was really disappointed by that fact. What could have been awesome just never came together for me and I ended up finding more problems than love.

Me Since You is about Rowan, the daughter of a cop, who always has to do the right thing since her father is very strict. On Senior ditch day, 16 year old Rowan, a sophomore, skips school with her best friend only to be ditched and then caught putting herself and her family on a road they never expected when her father is witness to a horrible murder suicide. Wracked with guilt Rowan’s dad can’t seem to shake the depression he is under and commits suicide. Now Rowan is left with all these feelings, a mother that has essentially checked out minus bringing in every stray cat she can find, and Eli, the boy that was with her dad with the murder suicide took place and who has his own sad past. As Rowan tries to make sense of her new life, the life after her father, she is uncertain of everything and in the end may push away her chance at true love.

My very first issue with this book was that it went from 1st to 3rd person in the very beginning of the book. I am not a huge fan of tense changes as I find them confusing and awkward. I much prefer a book from different POVs, all written in 1st person, if this the intent. Switching tenses is just a no no for me, so I had a really hard time with that. After that my biggest complaint was that it took a good 65% of the book to actually get to the point where the description starts. Now I understand the need for a backstory as much as the next reader. It helps build what is happening and lets you understand the characters better. But for me to have to read a good chunk of the book to even get to the reason I was reading was really a let down. As a reader I really wanted to get to the meat of the story and that was Rowan dealing with her father’s death and her emotions in regards to it. I strongly believe that flashbacks would have been a greater aid in this book and would have made reading it more enjoyable. Because honestly I really liked Rowan and Eli. I liked them separate. I liked them as a couple. I liked their stories. Instead of starting where the book did, it should have started after the suicide and maybe backtracked some. Instead I was just bored and not that interested by the time I did reach the part I was waiting for.

All in all Me Since You is not a book I would think about reading again or that I would purchase for my shelf. It was a book that left me feeling down and not because it was emotional but because I was let down and didn’t get the feels that I was hoping for. Although Rowan and Eli were likable, it sadly just wasn’t enjoy for me in the case of this particular story.

Other book by the author:
ordinary

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0 responses to “Review: Me Since You – Laura Wiess

  1. Nooooo. Ugh. I’m so excited to read this book, but your review worries me. That’s so strange that it changes tenses. I can’t really imagine that, so I’ll have to experience before I judge. I guess at least I have a fair warning not to get my hopes up too high?

    • I just found it really weird in places and a little draggy which makes it hard to connect with. But you may benefit from lowering your hopes. That way it can only get better really.

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