Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Series: n/a
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: April 15th, 2014
Source: From Publisher via NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.
Early on I thought I was going to love this one, but after the excitement of the black out, the novel slows down considerably. I found myself not even wanting to pick it back up at times. Not because it wasn’t good, but just because it wasn’t really grabbing me. The writing is great, but there just wasn't a whole lot going on.
One aspect I did like were all the places they both traveled to. That was really neat. However, that’s about the extent of this story, and I can see why this wasn’t loved as much as The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. I also enjoyed This is What Happy Looks Like. While The Geography of You and Me was okay, it just didn’t hold the magic of the other two. At least in my opinion.
Lucy and Owen meet during a black out, and then they are separated, both parties moving far away from where they meet. Owen heading west, and Lucy heading overseas. There really isn’t much swoon going on, because they aren’t together. And I knew that there wouldn’t be going into this, but there is also not much interaction between them while they were apart. I expected a little more I guess.
The ending, that kinda fell flat for me as well. I sat there with my kindle in hand saying out loud, “ … Um… okay…” My 6 year old asked what I meant, so I explained to her how the ending of the book was a little lack luster for my taste. She just stared at me, with a "huh?" look in her eyes. lol
You would think she'd be used to my bookish ramblings by now, I guess now. Anyway, I liked it… It wasn’t bad, but I really had hoped for so much more. I won’t let that discourage me though, because her writing is always good, I just didn’t connect with this story as much as her others.
About the author:
Jennifer E. Smith is the author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned her master's degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and currently works as an editor in New York City. Her writing has been translated into 28 languages.
Find Jessica:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Thanks for the review, April! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this as much as the other two novels by the same author that you've read. I haven't read any of her books first, but I think I may have to read this one first as to not to be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I completely agree. I haven't read any of Smith's other books but I did read this one and yeah, it was disappointing. It started out so well and then all the excitement just sort of vanished completely. I was SO frustrated with the lack of communication between Lucy and Owen. How are we supposed to root for them when they refuse to actually talk to each other? I thought that they did have chemistry whenever they were together but I just couldn't buy that they really did like each other so much if they are so terrible at keeping in touch when they're apart!
ReplyDeleteI really should try Smith's other books though, since I really enjoyed her writing here and maybe a different premise would be better.
Cynthia @ Jellyfish Reads
I feel the exact same way! I liked the beginning, but once they parted ways, the novel fell flat. I was expecting more emails and messages between the two of them. I've never read about a long-distance relationship, and I thought I was going to get that with this book, or at least close to it. I loved Statistical Probability, and This is What Happy Looks Like was okay, but I just didn't get into this one. And you're right - the ending is just kind of, really? Okay. I was expecting more.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll be skipping this one all together. From the title, there's an understanding that the romantic leads will be apart, but you do expect to see an open line of communication between the two. I mean, how can they keep it together if there isn't one. Am I right? Sounds like this one had the potential to be great. Too bad. Let's hope Smith's next novel has more to offer. Great review, April!
ReplyDeleteMarlene @ The Flyleaf Review
BUMMER! I can already tell that this book won't work for me. I love the meeting in the blackout set up and travel themes, but them being separated for all the novel would be a problem for me. Authors have to work hard if they're going to put the romance very far at the front of the book. Gayle Forman did it well in Just One Day, but it's tough to pull off, and I think I'd struggle with it here.
ReplyDeleteYou summed up my EXACT feelings with this! Honest...that's exactly how I felt. I read the first 25% and really liked it. So cute and fluffy. But then I put it down and I felt zero tug to read it again. I felt like the entire book was just waffling around until they predictably got back together again. *shrugs* But it was cute. ;)
ReplyDeleteI put this one on the back burner of my TBR after reading so many reviews that sounded like this. I'm a huge fan of her books, but I think I'll wait for the next one....
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics
I was kinda disappointed in this book too, I liked the first couple of chapters but then I felt sort of confused. I was so confused that they had such strong feelings for each other yet they only met two times and didn't really have any "moments"
ReplyDeleteYea, I kind of felt the same way about the ending. This was my first introduction to Jen's books and although I was a smidge disappointed, not enough to not read any of her other books :)
ReplyDelete- Krys