Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Title: The Start of Me and You
Author: Emery Lord
Series: n/a
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: March 31, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Following her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

After loving Open Road Summer when I read it with April last year, I knew I'd have to read everything else Emery Lord writes. She just writes these amazing stories about real girls, with real friendships and real issues, and they're completely relatable. That said, I'm having a really difficult time deciding which of her books I liked better.

"I used to think rewatching and rereading were embarrassingly boring pastimes. But there is something to be said for how comforting it is to already know what happens. There is no such luxury in real life."

I think the biggest difference for me was that Open Road Summer was full of swoons and country music, whereas The Start of Me and You was more about the main character opening herself up to the experiences she'd shut herself away from after the death of her boyfriend. Paige is kind of a nerdy shut-in, and so it was a lot easier to identify with her character than with Reagan from ORS. It was also easier to see myself in Paige as she pined away for a total hottie while remaining totally oblivious to the fact that his cute, nerdy cousin was into her. And that's why there were fewer swoons, though the swoons we got were very, very nice.

My favorite aspect of both books, though, was definitely the friendships. Paige has this amazing, supportive group of girlfriends who've helped her survive the last year without completely breaking down. Do friends like this really exist in real life? Because I've never had a group of friends that were THIS good to each other. Every time I started to suspect that one of Paige's friends was up to something or was about to show disloyalty to one of the others, the author made it right again, proving I had no reason to doubt these girls and their affection for one another.

"They were normal when I wanted to be normal, and they held me when I wanted to cry. When it all closes in, there are only two kinds of people: best friends and everyone else."

I applaud the author for showing young women that this is what we should expect, from our friendships to our romances. We deserve boys who will listen and respect us and will share their stash of Girl Scout cookies with us. And we deserve friends who are honest and will be there no matter what and who we can trust not to stab us in the back. I adore that the author includes these types of relationships in her books, and I can't wait to read more of them. We need more uplifting stories like this!

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

I'm Emery, and I write books about flawed girls who are really trying, complicated families, friends who show up even when everything's going down in flames, the boy who Gets You even when you don't expect it, and the summer that changed everything.

Open Road Summer is out now, and The Start of Me & You releases March 31st, 2015.

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