Review: I’ll Meet You There

Posted August 19, 2015 / Book Reviews / 14 Comments

Review: I’ll Meet You ThereI'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
on February 3rd 2015
(388 pages) • GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-half-stars

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 pinkMan, what a book. I was a bit hesitant in a general sense for this book – despite all of the hype and excitement everyone else felt for it – just because it didn’t sound like a ME book at all. It seemed like a grittier contemporary with PTSD, poverty – you name it. For some reason books involving the military don’t work for me. However, this book definitely exceeded my personal expectations and I ended up liking it a lot more than expected.

I loved that the issues explored within this book really aren’t seen much in other stories. Sky and Josh are from a really poor town called Creek View, where Sky lives in a trailer park with her mom. She works at a little motel that rarely gets visitors and her mom just got let go from Taco Bell. Sky’s dad died in a drunk driving accident. Josh returned from Afghanistan and is down to only one leg. He has nightmares and flashbacks; he’s not the same person he was when he left. See? Lots of things I’m generally not used to seeing or reading about – from socioeconomic status to trailer parks to PTSD.

I really liked the small town of Creek View. It reminded me of my hometown in a FEW ways. I can’t lie – my hometown was definitely more towards the upper middle class… but it was very small and everyone knew each other. The setting of the Paradise Motel was pretty amazing for me. I loved the themed rooms, Sky’s relationship with Marge, and really what that place meant to the people that worked there. I wish there was even MORE explored within it.

Again, this story was really different for me. I didn’t know what to expect. The last time I read a book involving the military that everyone loved (cough), it didn’t pan out so well. Both that book and this book were VERY VERY hyped from my fellow book bloggers. So, I went into it with a kind of cautious optimism: I was hoping it’d be different (check), emotional (somewhat check), and that I’d end up loving it like everyone else (pretty much check).

The biggest issue for me is that I just wasn’t as emotionally connected as other readers. It’s weird because it’s a very emotional story overall, between Josh’s PTSD and Sky’s poverty/family relationships, but just didn’t hit me as hard as I thought. I don’t know if it was just the hype being an issue or if it’s just me. I think I expected to be bawling my eyes out a few times (which I’ve been known to do during books) and it didn’t happen. With that aside though, this was a seriously fantastic story. And on that note…  JOSH + SKY 4—>

feels from friends pinkrating breakdown pink

Plot & Premise
five-stars
Characters
four-half-stars
Writing Style
five-stars
Pacing & Flow
four-stars
Feels or Swoons
four-stars
Addiction Level
four-stars
Overall: 4.4

14 responses to “Review: I’ll Meet You There

  1. YES I’m glad you STILL LIKED IT. I am actually hesitant of reading your COUGH book because it is based off of military, and I’m not too fond of the topic either. Luckily I really liked I’ll Meet You There, but it probably won’t be the same for other books on the topic.

    Awesome review Lauren!

  2. Brilliant review. I ended up really loving this book and thought the romance was adorable. But I was torn because Josh made some horridly homophobic comments and that never got fully addressed and it didn’t feel like he learnt from them by the end. That made me uncomfortable when I was reading. But the romance between Josh and Sky was just so adorable though that I couldn’t help but love the story over all.

    Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm recently posted: Paper Towns by John Green: I Just Don't Get It!
  3. I’m really happy that, in spite of your reservations, you did wind up liking I’ll Meet You There! It was my first read of this year, and I absolutely adored it. I loved Sky and Josh, loved Heather’s portrayal of their lives and now I’m kind of itching to reread it again 😉

    Alexa S. recently posted: Tunes & Tales: Unbreakable Smile

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