e-ARC, 400 pagesRelease Date: February 3, 2014Published by: Henry Holt & Co.Stand-aloneSource: Netgalley (A huge thank you to both the publisher and Netgalley. This galley was provided to me in exchange for a just and honest review. I received no type of compensation for getting this galley.)For fans of: Contemporaries, Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Tear Jerkers, YA, Sparkly Covers, DEAR
If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.
Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I know I loved a book when I have to start and stop a review several times and I'm still unsure I've found the right words for it, This is one of those circumstances. I'll Meet You There is a swoony, funny, sarcastic, and just everything you need from a book.
"Being a Marine isn't the only thing you're good at. Maybe you just don't know your thing yet, you know? I think..." I took a breath "I just think you're selling yourself short.'"
25%
Skylar is not your typical girl from Creek View. She has an actual chance of getting out. (Without becoming pregnant first.) Try as she might to stay out of trouble, it still found her. In the form of a Marine. Josh is back in Creek View after his tour in Afghanistan and and everything is different. Especially him. As the summer goes by, both Skylar and Josh see what's really important to them.
"...it's okay to be proud of yourself, Josh."
32%
I loved all "the feels" this book brought on. I laughed out loud, I cried, I got mad, I felt EVERYTHING while reading this. I was fully immersed in this story. Enough to cry real tears and talk back to the book like Skylar would jump from the pages and do what I told her.
"you can't have the light without the dark, right? Maybe our darkness was necessary for other people to see their light.'"
43%
I also loved the beautiful, lyrical way this story was written. Although the main character of this story is Skylar, there are some chapters from Josh's POV that are super intense and give us a look into his feelings. Though they sometimes hurt to read, I loved that Demetrios gave us that glimpse at Josh. This way we were able to see why he did what he did although we may not have agreed with it. Yes Skylar may have been the MC, but my favorite voice of the story was Josh's.
"What am I supposed to do when I'm bad for the one good thing in my life?'"
65%
As far as Josh and Skylar together there were so many hick-ups but I rooted for them the entire way. Both Josh and Skylar needed someone to be loved by and I wanted them to find it in each other. There were many times I was upset that they didn't do what I wanted them to, but at the same time, I understood. But trust me, the times they finally get it right, it was electrifying. Josh is seriously swoony and he and Skylar together captured my heart.
"Love is medicine and dreams are oxygen.'"
-Acknowledgements
Heather Demetrios is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. She dares to write outside the box, from teens with huge families that make it to television to teen amputated war veterans. Her writing swept me away to the trailer park in Creek View and even though Skylar was so intent on leaving, I didn't want to.
Overall, I give this
