review: me since you by laura wiess

One small decision to cut school on Senior Skip Day, even though Rowan’s a sophomore, forever changes her family. Although it leads to Rowan meeting Eli, the new boy in school, it also puts her police officer father in position to respond to a despondent man who leaps to his death while holding his infant son. From there, the tragedy compounds until all of the central characters are devastated.

I love Laura Wiess books even though they always require boxes of Kleenex to be handy. Her writing is incredibly poignant. My heart broke so many times as the characters worked through their grief in ways that weren’t pretty. Me Since You took some turns I wasn’t expecting, but always seemed grounded in reality. Although I hated how the adults around Rowan acted, it was believable that they’d all be just a little too self-absorbed to really give Rowan what she needed. The teens were also depicted well as they, including her best friend, backed away from Rowan. And while it seems Rowan may never recover, Wiess wisely ends this young adult novel with a small turn for the better.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, MTV Books.