Me Since You by Laura Wiess: Book Review

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother — and herself — from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

My thoughts: This book will rip you apart and tear your heart into pieces. There is so much grief and sadness in this book, but there are tiny glimpses of hope throughout.  If you're looking for a feel good book this is not the book you want to read; however, it is a great book and worth a read.

Rowan skips school not realizing what is about to happen after a stranger makes a decision that changes his life, but also the life of Rowan's entire family. The tragic event that occurs is not at all what I was expecting, and I'm glad the book synopsis doesn't give it away. It's not something that you think would have consequences for strangers, but it definitely does.

While I liked this book, it seemed to take a while for the other big event to occur. I had already figured out what was going to happen, so I kind of feel like I spent half of the book waiting for it to happen. That may be fine if you don't see it coming, but if you've figured it out, you just want it to happen so you can read the after.

Eli is such a great character. He's a teenager still reeling from the death of his soldier father, and he is so good for Rowan in the before and after. He's one of those guys that if he were a real person, he probably wouldn't have a lot of friends because teenagers wouldn't be able to appreciate him.

Rowan, at times, is a bit hard to like, but I guess that's what extreme grief does to a person. She is frustrating, but at the same time, I just want to hug her and tell her that life won't always be hard. It seems silly, but sometimes reading her was exhausting. There was so much sadness in this book. I kept waiting for something really good to happen to break up all the sadness, but it never really happened.

I would recommend this to those who are looking for a good book to make them cry, but I would definitely recommend having something happy to read afterwards because you'll need it. And tissues. Lots of tissues.

4 out of 5 stars based on Goodreads rating system.