**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Sometimes I don’t understand how the class**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Sometimes I don’t understand how the classification of novels works. For some reason, GoodReads has this book under YA. Now, it has a lot of other classifications that work (Mystery, Suspense…Thriller even works) but YA isn’t one of them. Just because a book has a main character who is 18 does NOT make it appropriate for youngsters to read. The publisher’s website has it classified as Contemporary Women’s Fiction and Suspense. That is much more accurate in my eyes. But the publisher also has some review blurbs that liken this book to Gone Girl and I just don’t see that. Maybe because I was so bored by Gone Girl I wasn’t able to finish it and I found this book to be spectacular.
I have a lot to say here so let me start with the synopsis for this book. At the end of the synopsis are these words, “Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception.” I actually highlighted these words to see if, once I finished reading, I would agree. It seems so overstated. Now that I’ve completed this novel I can’t help but agree. This is really spot on. If I ended this review here, that should be enough for you to want to read this story. But I won’t end here.
I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the author’s word usage almost immediately. Since I have an ARC I really can’t quote from the text. Believe me when I say she has a true grasp of language. The imagery her words create is wonderful. I feel that I know exactly what Peter’s wife looks like. No, that’s not quite right. I know what her essence looks like. It doesn’t matter if she’s blond or brunette, tall or short, pale or tanned; I know her personality because of the words Mindy Mejia uses and the way she uses those words. I know her spirit.
I went into this book looking at it as more of YA romance. I found, especially after the first establishing chapters, that it was more of a lesson on I went into this book looking at it as more of YA romance. I found, especially after the first establishing chapters, that it was more of a lesson on life. A lesson on how to be a good person. A primer on trying to find a way to see people for who they are and not what they look like or what they wear.
Love is hard. People always often say love is easy but it's not. Infatuation is easy. Love is hard. You have to learn to accept the good with the bad and make compromises. Love is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But it's not easy. This book took me much longer to read than most because it was so real in showing that love is hard. As much as it was sweet, it was also sad and heart wrenching.
I absolutely adore the hero, A. He is everything I hope my own sons to be on the inside. Kind, unbiased, non-judgmental, loyal, considerate. I can't say I felt the same connection to A's love interest Rhiannon. In some ways I felt as though David Levithan did that on purpose, wrote her in such a way that the reader doesn't feel the same way as A. But sometimes I felt it was more that I just wasn't seeing Rhiannon the same was the author saw her. That questioning of the writing took my rating from a 5 to a 4. If I don't connect with a character, I want to know it's intentional on the author's part. Therefore, either way the author meant her to be viewed, somehow the writing missed it's mark with me on that particular character.
This will definitely be a book I recommend to all of the book-loving teens I know as well as the members of my book club. It's worth reading and thinking about. I only wish I would have used it as my book club pick when it's my turn to host. Maybe I still will....more
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