RATING :
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Oh this book… THIS BOOK… it’s everything I need from a contemporary fiction. It’s so raw and emotional and beautiful and I fell deeply in love with it. All I wanted to do was hold this book and cry myself to sleep… and that is precisely what I did after I was done reading.
I’ll Meet You There is a story about Skylar and Josh. Sky came from a poor family where it’s just her and her mother. She just graduated high school and counting the days until she had to leave for college, then something happened and her life started to fall apart–even more than it already did. The night of her graduation party, she saw Josh for the first time in 2 years at his welcome party, only to find out that Josh lost his leg in Afghanistan.
Sky is my new favorite protagonist. She’s tough and vulnerable at the same time and probably the most caring person in the world. She cares about Josh even after he hurt her, she cares about her mom even when her mom treated her like crap and everyone told her to mind her own business, and she cares so much for her friends. Being in her head was incredible, it was emotional. I cried every time she cried and my heart hurt for everything that she felt. Her character development is just amazing.
Josh is also my new favorite male protagonist. He used to be cocky and even now you could still see he’s a bit of a jerk. Actually he was being a jerk to a lot of people, saying sexist and bigoted things like ‘that sounds so gay‘ or things like it. BUT it was almost always called-out in-text by Skylar or Nick, so he did’t just get away with it. Besides, you would also know that Josh is actually a good guy at his core.
I could feel everything he feels… his guilt, his frustration, his desperation, his love for Sky… I just, I can’t even with this book. Josh’s chapters were even MORE emotional and it was so raw I don’t even know how to feel. And if Sky’s character development is amazing, then Josh’s is even more so. I’ve heard so much about war trauma, soldiers going home to become a completely different person and all that, but I never really read about it. This book taught me a lot about how it feels to be a Marine, how it feels to keep losing the people you care about, and how it feels to keep seeing war even if you’re thousand miles away from it. Josh’s PTSD was portrayed so honestly and beautifully. It was… raw. Seeing his struggle made my heart ache for him. It was a wonderful experience to see him try to overcome his condition.
And the romance… it’s just so beautiful, so imperfectly perfect. I love Josh and Skylar so much and I’m so so happy with their relationship. It was hard and it hurt a lot but it was so real. I’m also really glad that they had gotten to know each other before Josh left for the Marines because it allowed their relationship to seem even more realistic and develop at a steadier pace. And I’m so thankful this book doesn’t encourage the ‘love as a cure for all’ trope. Being with Sky makes Josh better, but not entirely. Like, he still has nightmare and bad days and all that but he’s trying to be honest and that’s just so heartwarming.
The writing is simple but so beautiful and rich with raw emotion. The plot is very character-driven and I just love the characters so much. But if there’s one thing I could wish to be different, I wish it was dual-narrated. Like, we actually get chapters from Josh’s POV, not just fragmented thoughts like we have right now. But whatever, it’s good the way it is.
And I know I’ve said this a couple times before but it really was super emotional. Like, I cried every other chapter and I had to stop a few times to collect myself. And even when I stopped reading, I kept thinking about it, reliving each emotional moment on my head until I ended up crying again 😂 And I cried (again) when I read the author’s note because I found out that this book was inspired by the author’s own life. She comes from a family of Marines and she mentioned the time when her grandfather died and the Marines handed the US flag to her grandmother and I was sobbing again.
ALL IN ALL, I’ll Meet You There is a beautiful & realistic story filled with raw emotion. It will crush you and break your heart and probably make you cry all night but that’s okay because you will love it—hopefully as much as I do. Highly recommended! ♥
Book title : I’ll Meet You There
Author : Heather Demetrios
Publisher : Henry Holt & Co
If 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 separating Skylar from art school is three months of summer…until Skylar’s mother loses her job, and Skylar realizes her dreams may be slipping out of reach.
Josh had a different escape route: the Marines. But after losing his leg 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 Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and, soon, something deeper.
Have you read I’ll Meet You There? What do you think about it? Also I decided I want to read more books with military characters so as usual, shoot me some recs! YA is preferable, as always ♥
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Great review. Glad you liked the book.
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Thank you! I’m glad too 😀
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Great Review! I haven’t read this one yet, but it’s been on my TBR and your review just bumped it up because I love books with real characters and raw emotions and imperfectly perfect romances 🙂
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Thank you! 😀 oh YESSS you definitely need to read this because it is SO GOOD! I just love the characters and their stories so much ❤ hahaha
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Yesss this is one of my all time favorites! I’m glad you loved it too ♡
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YAYYYY so glad to see a lot of people love this book as well, IT IS AMAZING hahaha 😛
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Great review 😀
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Thank you 😀
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Your enthusiasm and passion for this title make your review so stunning. I do not read much contemporary (hardly ever) but if anyone could convince me, it is you. Fantastic review! I am so glad the characters were portrayed so well and the story remained realistic throughout. Those are the best emotional reads 🙂
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THE BOOK IS SO STUNNING OMG hahaha it took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting much from this book haha but yes please read this! It’s amazing hahaha thank you 😀
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This looks super interesting!
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Yes it is! I love the book so much 😛
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Great review for a book I completely adored. It’s been ages since I last read this, I bought a hardback copy not too long after the release and fell head over heels for this book. It’s like you say, it’s filled with these really amazing characters who are so real and struggle with big things like poverty and crappy parents and a crappy lot in life and it just sucks for them and then you get to know them and it’s just awesome. I read this because everyone had been raving about it and I was glad I listened to the hype because it was completely worth it, even if I did spend way too much getting a copy than I probably should have.
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Thank you! 😀 Ahh on the contrary I just heard about this book a few months ago hahaha I didn’t keep up with release date and wasn’t really active in the community last year 😂😂 anywayyy yes I love all the issues dealt in this book and everything was just so beautiful! ❤
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I completely agree! This is such an amazing book and I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. 🙂 Heather Demetrios is such a fantastic author. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! ❤
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SO AMAZING! I agree and I seriously can’t wait to read Bad Romance 😀 yayy thank you so much Zoe ❤
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Ahhhhhhh I’ve been waiting for the review, Puput!! I’m so beyond happy that you ended up loving this book. This book is one of those books that I love so much and you know I completely agree with everything you said. It was so emotional and heartbreaking but also so beautiful. And your review also reminded me that I was going to do a military character book rec post. I’ll have to try to get that done soon haha. But seriously Sky and Josh and this whole book. I remember crying so much too and even over the author’s note. Now I just want to go reread the book for the millionth time LOL. Anyway, I’m rambling so I’ll stop. I’m just really glad you loved this as much as I did. Great review as always! 💕😊
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I finally posted it hahahaha I had to go back and edit my review several times because it was so incoherent and full of flailing hahaha 😂😂 I know rightttt the whole story is just so beautiful! I love how raw and emotional it is and yes this is the kind of book that I will remember for a long time ❤ thank you and I'm STILL waiting for that military book recs hahaha go write it! 😛
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I can imagine. It took me forever to write my rec post for it because I just kept wanting to say I LOVE THIS BOOK READ IT. 😂
Everything has been so hectic that I actually forgot all about it until I saw your review. I’m going to try to get it written and posted sometime this week though. 🙈😊
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I get it though school could be pretty overwhelming hahaha well I’ll be ready to add those books to my TBR whenever you decide to post it 😛
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This sounds like such a fantastic book! It’s going straight onto my TBR😃
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It is indeed SO FANTASTIC! Yayyy I really hope you get to read it and enjoy it as soon as I did 😀
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I have been meaning to read this book for so long and it’s so good to hear you’ve enjoyed it!
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YOU SHOULD! I loved it so much and I hope you enjoy it too when you read it 😀
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Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed this one too Puput! I loved both Josh and Skylar and the internal conflicts that they went through, and how they weren’t perfect but it sort of worked. Lovely review!
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I’m so glad too! I didn’t think it was gonna be this good so it was a HUGE surprise hahaha and yes it’s just so beautiful ❤ thank you Jeann! 😀
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I’ve been wanting to read this for so long, I don’t know why I haven’t already! You’re review has me even more excited to finally get around to reading it.
It’s not really the same idea as this story but have you read If I Lie by Corrine Jackson? That has quite a military focus (the MC lives in a military town, her father and boyfriend and both in the military) and is definitely one that will break your heart!
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Ooohhh yes you should, it’s so good hahaha I actually hadn’t heard of that book but I’m going to look it up on goodreads, thank you for the recommendations 😀
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I loved this book too! Great review!
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Thank you. So glad you loved it too ❤
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