Title: I'll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Published: 2015
Rating:
Brief Overview: Skylar and Josh know each other casually through school and worked together at the Paradise Hotel, but their relationship changes when Josh returns home from Afghanistan. Josh is injured physically and psychologically from his time overseas. Meanwhile, Skylar is dealing with problems at home and preparing to leave for college.
Themes: PTSD, friendship, love, loss, war, alcoholism, mother-daughter relationship
Themes: PTSD, friendship, love, loss, war, alcoholism, mother-daughter relationship
Characters:
Skylar Evans: Skylar's character felt a little dull to me. She is the artsy girl with a bright future and a troubled home life. She seems like a token YA main character to me. She was of course innocent and a virgin. She seemed at times to be a construct so Josh would have someone to love. Further in to the book, she makes an out of character bad life choice which seemed only semi-believable to me given her usual good behavior. Skylar's friends and family have interesting lives that affect hers, but I wish she was more of a unique character herself.
Skylar Evans: Skylar's character felt a little dull to me. She is the artsy girl with a bright future and a troubled home life. She seems like a token YA main character to me. She was of course innocent and a virgin. She seemed at times to be a construct so Josh would have someone to love. Further in to the book, she makes an out of character bad life choice which seemed only semi-believable to me given her usual good behavior. Skylar's friends and family have interesting lives that affect hers, but I wish she was more of a unique character herself.
Josh Mitchell: Of the two main characters, Josh has more depth. He is flawed. He can be rude and hurt peoples feelings, he is angry, and he is popular. And while he has some white knight moments, that's not the kind of love interest he is. He has his own issues to deal with. He must come to terms with an injury, loss and intense guilt. The only thing about Josh that I found a little cliche was the fact that he insists on protecting Skylar from himself, instead choosing self destructive coping methods when of course - as in most YA books - they turn out to be the best thing for each other.
Impressions: One thing I love about this book is that the author sets up a realistic small town. Everyone knows each other, everyone has a reputation. My only problems with the book were the few issues with the characters mentioned above. I loved the way that Skylar and Josh were able to support each other through difficult times. I also liked that beneath a simple love story was the fact that each character has their own problems to deal with. Josh is fighting an internal battle of guilt and Skylar must make decisions to be her own person despite the needs of her mother.Neither character fixes the other's problems.That is something each must do on their own.
What to read next: Something Like Normal (Trish Doller) or Eleanor & Park (Rainbow Rowell)
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