Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Rowan is a normal teenager.  A little rebellious.  A little bit overtaken by her dominant BFF.  She loves her family and worries about saving money for a car, what clothes to wear, and how people at school see her.  All that changes the morning that a man decides to kill himself and his baby boy.  Rowan's dad was the responding officer that morning, and while he's dealt with his share of tough situations over the years, the backlash that comes from the media and public because of this incident pushes him into a severe depression.  For weeks he's unable to function, becoming someone that Rowan doesn't even know.  Worse than that, Rowan knows that if she hadn't been skipping school that day, her dad wouldn't have been anywhere near the bridge and the terrible thing that happened.  Another person touched by this deed was Eli.  He and Rowan form a bond of sorts while she's trying to hold everything together.

Then another tragedy strikes and nothing will ever be the same again.




This is my first book by this author, so I wasn't sure what to expect here.  I don't know if her other books are this dark and deep, but next time I read one (and there will be a next time), I'm making sure I'm mentally prepared for it.

For the first 1/3 of this book, I was in love with it.  I loved Rowan and how real she was.  She wasn't a "good girl", but she wasn't a rebellious bad-ass either.  She was just a teenager.  She reminded me of me or any of my friends.  Then holy mother of God, this book got dark.  The entire last 2/3rds of the book was just death, depression, and people spiraling out of control.  I honestly don't think I've read another book that had more death in it.  Babies die for crying out loud (as in plural, more than one)!!

So I'm not saying that I didn't like the book.  I did.  Like I said, I really loved Rowan.  And Eli was pretty amazing as well.  But I really didn't know that we were going to have to go along with Rowan and her mother on their entire, giant grieving process.  Not to be cold-hearted, but it got old after a while.  I get it, you are destroyed over this.... does the whole book have to be about that??  And it might be authentic (I'm sure it is), but every time they took one step forward, they would take 3 steps back.  It was really frustrating to read about.  And the thing is I was really pissed at Rowan's friend Nadia for feeling the exact same way I was, so that makes me feel kind of shitty for saying it at all.  She had every right to grieve and grieve however she needed to.  I just didn't want to read about the same thing for that many pages.

Besides the characters and writing, I also loved the overall "ripple effect" theme.  The idea that a tragedy touches so many more people than you think.  The idea that tiny little things that you do can have consequences that you never saw coming.  I'm not one to second guess the little stuff.  You could what-if yourself to death that way... but it is worth thinking about actions and consequences.

So should you read this??  If you are in an emotional reading mood: YES!!  This is a beautifully written book and it's about some really important stuff.  But it's dark and sad, emotional and there's a constant heartbreak that comes and keeps on coming.

OVERALL:  I enjoyed the characters and the beautiful way it was written, but it was a little too dark for my tastes.  I needed something positive to happen in this book and I never fully got that.  It's worth reading, but you gotta be in that deep, emotional mood.

This Book Contains:

• Mental Illness
• Death
• Suicide
• Murder
• A German Shepard
• Cats
• Prom (well almost)
• A job at the Dry Cleaners
• Heartbreak
• Loss
• Tears
• Anger

Add it to your To-Read List!!!

My Rating: 3/4

How I got this book: Thanks to Netgalley and MTV Books for allowing me to read and honestly review this book.

Date Published: 2/14/2014