Review - The Geography of You and Me By: Jennifer E. Smith

Title: The Geography of You and Me
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publisher: Little, Brown for Young Readers, 352 Pages (April 15th 2014)
From: the Publisher/Amazon Vine
Format: ARC
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

Review: 4 Stars - The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith is another fantastic title with characters you'll soon not forget after following a year of their lives.

Lucy and Owen, the teens of this story have seen each other but have never spoken. That is until that one fateful afternoon that the power went out leaving the two stranded in the elevator of their apartment building in New York City. This gives them the perfect opportunity to finally get to know each other.

Lucy is such a quiet character. She likes her space and being on her own. She loves New York City and all the wonders that surround her. And Owen just wants what he's lost back. He's a fish out of water and it's Lucy who makes him see, in a few short hours just how amazing the city can be if you look around and give new things a try.

Throughout the story we follow along as the two navigate their changing lives together, as short of a time they have during that city wide black out and apart. Something that Smith does extremely well is writing teenage characters. And these within this story, she has done it again. This novel is full of teen emotions and a lot of angst. I love how they question all the normal things in life from romance and family issues to figuring out who they are as people in their ever changing lives.

Something that I found to be well done was how these characters affected each other after such a short time together and how they carried those changes with them. There's something to be said about those who come into our lives and change you for the better and without a doubt Smith has done that in spades within this title.

Another thing that I loved about this one was how Lucy and Owen moved from place to place with their parents and how the little things from their single night together changed them and remained with them after they each moved away from the city that they met in. Smith made it easy to see both Lucy and Owen in each of the cities that they moved to or visited, giving readers a chance to see this title as more of a visual piece than just words on the page.

The only thing that I didn’t care for was the ending. While I have come to understand it, it felt abrupt and well... I don't want to say much more because I try as hard as possible to stay away from spoilers, but that's the one reason why I couldn't give this title a higher rating then I did. I'm always one for closure and just wish that I had a bit more. Others might not see it as I have so please make up your own minds when it comes to the ending of this one.

In the end Smith knows how to give readers more than the usual story and leave them waiting to see what she'll write next. She knows how to give an audience teen characters who are honest and real, who are dealing with life and all the changes and choices that come with it. And it's these things and the writing that have made me a fan. While this might only be the second title I've read from this author, it won't be the last. She has a talent and contemporary YA fans should all be putting this author on their auto-buy list. I highly recommend this author. Enjoy!