Me Since You by Laura Wiess

Me Since You by Laura Wiess
Published by: MTV Books on February 18, 2014
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 368
Source: Edelweiss
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★

Are there any answers when someone you love makes a tragic choice?

Before and After. That’s how Rowan Areno sees her life now. Before: she was a normal sixteen-year-old—a little too sheltered by her police officer father and her mother. After: everything she once believed has been destroyed in the wake of a shattering tragedy, and every day is there to be survived.

If she had known, on that Friday in March when she cut school, that a random stranger’s shocking crime would have traumatic consequences, she never would have left campus. If the crime video never went viral, maybe she could have saved her mother, grandmother—and herself—from the endless replay of heartache and grief.

Finding a soul mate in Eli, a witness to the crime who is haunted by losses of his own, Rowan begins to see there is no simple, straightforward path to healing wounded hearts. Can she learn to trust, hope, and believe in happiness again?

Me Since You is hands down the most powerful and emotional book I have ever read. This book ripped me to emotional shreds. I have never cried so much over one book in my entire life.

If you don’t like sad books, turn away now. Me Since You is not just sad—it’s devastating. The genuine loss and hopelessness that drips from the words in this book will cripple you a thousand times over. I read this book in increments, and each time I picked up the book again, the tears immediately started up again.

Me Since You was so real and so honest—I think that’s why it had such a strong effect on me. It almost read like a real journal than a fictional story. I felt like all the events in this book really happened, and maybe even I was part of them. I got so involved and so invested, and that’s why it brought tears to my eyes every single time I turned the page.

What I love about this book is that Laura Wiess didn’t take the easy way out, which I almost expected. You have a book about loss and grief, with the clear mention of a romance in the synopsis. But, it didn’t turn out how I expected. I imagined the cliché story where a girl’s father commits suicide, she seeks comfort in the arms of the understanding boy her age, and he solves all her problems and guides her through this troubling time.

Nope.

The romance did not dominate and take over Me Since You. I expected it to kind of take over the whole grief/loss aspect of the book, but it totally didn’t. In fact, the romance is only a subtle accent to this story. It largely focuses on working through the stages of grief. Rowan is confused, lost, upset, angry, and finally learns to accept the tragedy. Although Eli does have some involvement, he’s not the focus. Most of the story is Rowan struggling to deal with this on her own, because she doesn’t immediately run into the arms of the hot guy she met. She’s scared, sad, and alone, and pulls inward, as you’d kind of expect from someone suffering a loss like this.

So although I loved the romance (it was sooooo sweet!!), I loved how it didn’t turn Me Since You into a romance book. The story was still very much about loss, death, family, and acceptance.

I feel like I can’t even really convey the number this book did on me. It completely OWNED me. It ripped me into so many pieces. I had to fight back tears while reading the ending on the train. I swear to god, people were probably looking at me and wondering, “I wonder who in her family just died…”

Me Since You made me feel all the feels. I was completely part of the story, to the point where it dominated my thoughts even when I wasn’t reading. I was yelling at Rowan’s father, “WHY WHY WHY?? I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!” I was 100% there with Rowan, struggling to understand, fighting to accept, and lost somewhere between grief and anger.

Anyone who reads my reviews regularly will know that I don’t usually comment on writing style. By Laura’s prose was so gorgeous. That’s one of the things that really pulled me in and made this book feel real and genuine. The words were so heavy with emotion and I practically got lost in it. I swear to you, they were real thoughts from a real grieving person.

Unless you hate cry books or can’t stand sadness in stories, I recommend Me Since You to EVERYONE! You will feel EVERYTHING! Most of it will be sad, heart-wrenching, and confusing. You won’t understand why Rowan’s father chose to leave his family. WHY WHY WHY??? How could he do that? You will feel immense grief, an overwhelming sense of unfairness, and deep, tragic loss. This book is that powerful. It will shake you to your core and you will feel the effects for weeks.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Period.

The Verdict