The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Name: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Format: paperback
Pages: 352 pages
Release date: 10th April 2014
Publisher: Headline

Teaser

Owen lives in the basement. Lucy lives on the 24th floor. But when the power goes out in the midst of a New York heatwave, they find themselves together for the first time: stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. As they await help, they start talking...

The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland they can't shake the memory of the time they shared. Postcards cross the globe when they themselves can't, as Owen and Lucy experience the joy - and pain - of first love.

And as they make their separate journeys in search of home, they discover that sometimes it is a person rather than a place that anchors you most in the world.





My thoughts

I kindly received a review copy of this book. I was so delighted when Agi asked me if I want to read and review this book for her blog. I heard so many good things about it, that’s why I couldn’t wait to start reading it.

New York. Heatweave. Blackout. Two teenagers stuck in an elevator between the 10th and 11th floor. Here we meet Lucy and Owen, the main character of this story. Lucy, a sixteen-year old New Yorker and Owen the seventeen-year-old son of the building manager. Lucy lives in apartment 24D, she is on her way back to the apartment after collecting today’s mail. Owen, living in the basement, is on his way up to the rooftop. They have seen each other before but never talked to another. They're only stuck for a short period but that time was enough for them to start talking and .form a friendship. Lucy and Owen even end up spending the rest of the night walking around a powerless city, eating melted ice-cream and staring up at the stars. When the power comes back on their lives start to take them in opposite directions and different countries too. Nevertheless they can’t get each other of their minds. The teenagers keep in touch with postcards and emails, but will those be strong enough to hold them together?

I never read anything by Jennifer E. Smith before. It’s always a pleasure to discover new authors, new writing styles and see how it all turns out. To be honest rarely read YA novels, I mostly read chick-lit although his book was a great change for me.

The Geography of You and Me is a beautifully written story of first love. I loved the idea of the concept. I fell for Lucy and Owen so easily. I wanted their story to be real. This is a well written book that will take you into a world of characters that won’t leave you alone. The pace was really great and as the book progressed I found it harder and harder to put down; I was desperate to find out what would happen next. I like it when a story is told from both main characters point of view to see their perspective of current situation and tell the reader about their past, which helps the reader to understand their personalities.

It was a really sweet book and I enjoyed reading but I was expecting a bit more. I can’t tell you why. I just felt like, something was missing.