About the Book
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Authors:
- Emily Wibberley
- Austin Siegemund-Broka
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Contemporary
- YA Romance
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Straight
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: I Mean…Okay?
BFF Charm: Roger Murtagh
Talky Talk: I See What You’re Trying To Do
Bonus Factor: Independence
Relationship Status: No LDR In Our Future
Cover Story: I Mean…Okay?
The book is set in Phoenix, AZ and Austin, TX and the characters hike occasionally and wander around Austin so…okay? Like for such a relationship-focused book, why aren’t both Patrick and Siena on the cover? I also don’t think this model looks anything like Siena, both in personality or style. It matches the authors’ other covers, but at what cost?
The Deal:
SienaandPatrick. The phrase makes Siena feel suffocated despite how attractive she finds Patrick, her boyfriend of three years. Who IS Siena without Patrick at her side? She’s all set to break up with him when he announces his family is moving to Austin, and so Siena jumps at the opportunity to stay together long-distance and still have the space to explore her independence.
What follows is snapshots of how their senior year togetherandapart plays out. Is it possible to fall back in love with someone who lives a thousand miles away? Or will Siena realize that she can only be herself when Patrick isn’t there?
BFF Charm: Roger Murtagh
I can tell you who Siena is without Patrick: annoying. She’s super annoying.
Okay, okay, she’s not THE WORST, but I really wanted to, like, push her during the first 25% of the book. She’s so inside her head trying to figure out whether or not she should stay with Patrick and visualizing herself trying all these different versions of herself and feeling frustrated when she can’t make up her mind. GIRL, ME TOO. It’s not that deep. You’re seventeen. You’ve got time to keep developing as a human, so chillax.
Things sort of improve as the book progresses, but Siena (and Patrick, to an extent) have a lot to learn about healthy communication. Even as she got better by the end, I was still struggling to see exactly what it was that made Patrick love her so much…
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
There were so many communication issues between the two that I struggled to get excited about their love even when they were feeling it. There was a lot more telling of how good they were together than showing, and the connection between myself and the characters suffered for it. I think the story would have benefited from Patrick’s perspective as well (especially when you’ve got both authors pulling from their real-life relationship) instead of keeping us solely in Siena’s head, because, honestly, Patrick often seemed too good for Siena, just based off what I was seeing.
Talky Talk: I See What You’re Trying To Do
As someone who also met her husband young (at seventeen), I figured I’d have an easy time connecting to this book. But I picked it up, read a few pages, and put it back down again maybe seven times until I finally realized my problem: I am a Patrick, not a Siena. I never had the same kinds of doubts and concerns Siena has. I also am sitting here with the benefit of hindsight because my relationship is going on 18-years strong, so obviously finding each other young worked for us even though I know it doesn’t for everyone. Maybe another young person who has been in a relationship most of high-school and is presently questioning whether to continue will find more illumination in this story than I did.
Putting that aside, I know I can definitely find value in books where I don’t personally relate to the main characters, so there was something else off about the pacing and plot of the book. The author duo’s writing style was still there, but it didn’t feel…right. The authors said in their acknowledgements that this was a pandemic book. In my very unscientific opinion, all the books I’ve read lately that I know were written between 2020-2021 have felt a bit weird. I think all that stress and uncertainty we were all feeling feeling left an indelible discordant mark on people’s writing. (Don’t ask me to prove it, but it feels true.)
Bonus Factor: Independence
I do support Siena trying different things to see what she likes and dislikes as a person, because we should always be growing and changing and trying to be our most authentic selves, regardless of our romantic relationships.
Relationship Status: No LDR In Our Future
Good luck on the move, Book, but I don’t see our short time together as important enough for us to continue this a long-distance relationship. Sometimes relationships have a season, and the leaves on ours are turning brown.
Literary Matchmaking
In Jennifer E. Smith’s Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between, a high-school couple does break up, then kind of regrets it.
What about what happens when you’re thinking of starting a relationship as you’re planning on going to different colleges? I enjoyed Time of Our Lives from the same authors quite a bit!
The Map From Here to There is a sequel, but Emery Lord’s book also tackles the topic of long distance relationships.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Viking Books for Young Readers. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. With and Without You is available now.
