I’ll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: February 3, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Summary:
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.
Compelling and ultimately hopeful, this is a powerful examination of love, loss, and resilience.
First Sentence: The Mitchells’ backyard was packed, full of recent and not-so-recent grads in various stages of party decay.
My Review:
Before I requested I’ll Meet You There, there was already hype building for it. I was already so, so excited to read it ever since I read half of Heather Demetrios’ debut novel, Something Real, and fell in love with it (the only reason I didn’t finish it was because two exams then came up). As time went by and as more and more people loved I’ll Meet You There, I was pretty sure I would love I’ll Meet You There too. I guess that’s my problem – whenever most people love a book, I eventually assume that I will love it too.
“Skylar,” he said, after a moment. “What’s up?” His smile slid all over his face, like it couldn’t make itself comfortable.
“Not much. How’s it going?” Dumb, dumb, dumb question to ask someone who had just lost his leg. (ARC 21)
Most of I’ll Meet You There sadly bored me and made me want to DNF it. By page 62, I wasn’t invested in the characters nor did I connect with any of the characters, their stories, or anything that was happening. The only thing that managed to snag and keep my attention was Sky’s situation with her mother and the last one hundred and forty or so pages where Sky and Josh’s relationship really got going.
The last one hundred and forty pages are honestly the best part of the book. Those one hundred and forty pages pulled out all the feels and constantly tugged on my heartstrings. It made me tear up several times and desperately hope for a happy ending for both Sky and Josh, which is extremely rare for me after all the things Josh has done. I usually don’t forgive guys who have done things like has Josh done, but alas, Josh somehow managed to convince me to give him another chance.
“What happened?” she asked.
I could feel Josh beside me, and it felt like he belonged there. “Everything.” (ARC 225)
Another thing I wasn’t too keen on was the very short chapters, if you can even call them chapters, told from Josh’s point of view. I get what Heather Demetrios was trying to do with his chapters, I can’t explain anymore than that without spoiling anything, but I just didn’t like the way Josh’s chapters was written. Josh’s chapters was written in one huge single paragraph, making the text look jumbled and disjointed.
Overall, I would have given I’ll Meet You There a much lower rating that it currently has if it wasn’t for the last one hundred and forty or so pages. I feel really sad that I didn’t overly enjoy a book that everyone else enjoyed and a book that I thought I would definitely enjoy.
I saw so much hype and positive things for this book. I’ve not gotten it only because it’s contemp and I sadly never care for those. I’m sad it didn’t live up to your expectations :-( at least the ending was powerful.
Kristen@My Friends Are Fiction recently posted…Discussion- Is our audience also our competition?
Oh that sucks that you didn’t like it. I have heard so many amazing things about it. It sucks when things don’t live up to the hype. I will probably still read it, but I hope I enjoy it a bit more.
Cynthia recently posted…Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!
Oh no! I haven’t read this one yet, but come to think of it, I don’t even think I requested it because it just didn’t seem like a book that would wow me. I’ve been seeing a lot of people reading it now on Goodreads, and I think I’ll just skip this one.
Erin @ The Hardcover Lover recently posted…Hardcover Lover Confessions (2)
ugh! well this lessen my excitement over this book. but i’m still getting a copy so i can form an opinion for it…who knows i might enjoy it more than you did *cross fingers*
thanks for this review even if it was less than stellar for you.
It’s awful you didn’t love it. I loved her first book, I loved the characters and the romance and I would believe her second one would be even better.
It does have diversity which is good.
Lovely review :)
This is actually one of the first negative reviews I’ve seen so far of this book. I’ll probably still pick it up for myself, just to see how I compare. The premise doesn’t sound that interesting to me, so maybe I’ll think about DNFing it too. It’s still an anticipated release for me though!
Katherine recently posted…January Wrap Up
I’m sorry you weren’t a fan of this one! I’ve been seeing so much hype around it and I was looking forward to it, mainly because I’m usually not a contemporary fan. Maybe I’ll end up just checking this out from the library then.
Sajda recently posted…Review: The Young Elites
AW :( I know how much things can SUCK being the black sheep. I actually feel you so hard for this. Not for this book in specific, but the disappointment. I feel like EVERYTHING I’m reading is sucking which is horrible because it’s making me black sheep for everything.
I have no idea how to react to Josh’s paragraphs now. How can a chapter be a whole paragraph? That makes no sense. What even…? Funny, I’ve actually NEVER heard that from any other review.
It’s unfortunately you didn’t like this one, but I hope your next is better!
Nova @ Out of Time recently posted…To GIF or Not To GIF?
Definitely disappointing. I didn’t get my hopes up too high for this one, since these types of books are usually hit or miss with me. But I did want it to turn out to be a good one. For more than 140 pages. I don’t know if I will read this one or not. Depends entirely on my local library!
Jaime Lester recently posted…Jaime Reviews: Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour
I’m so curious about what Josh did that made you think you might dislike him, but in the end you did like his character. Also why those last one-hundred-and-forty pages made a huge impression on you when the others didn’t. Hopefully I’ll like this story too when I get to it. Though if I start off slow while reading it, I’ll probably love/hate it… :/
I’ve heard so many good things about this book that I got really excited about it myself. I’m sad you were so disappointed by it. I want to pick it up eventually and hopefully I’ll like it. Maybe it was good to have my expectations lowered a bit. :) Great review!
Karin recently posted…Review: One of the Guys
Ack I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it that much – I’ve been really looking forward to this one!
Hannah recently posted…Review: The Uninvited – Cat Winters
That’s too bad! I also loved Something Real but there’s something about the plot of I’ll Meet You There that makes me… not so excited. I’ll still check it out but it’s good that I won’t go in with hightened expectations…
Raven @ The Bookish Raven recently posted…Book Review – Sotto Voce by Erin Finnegan
I used to assume the same thing, although I learned my lesson after not liking a number of books with hype. Now I sometimes purposely lower my expectations whenever there’s a hype surrounding a book. Does that even make sense? But anyway, great review! I’ve been wary of this one, but yeah.. Have a great week! :)
Kim @ Divergent Gryffindor: BLOG || VLOG
Kim recently posted…Dress Up That Cover #24 – Clipped Wings
Oh no… doesn’t sound good. I’ve seen many people love it and my library is supposed to get it this month. Too bad you didn’t enjoy it.
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Book Spotlight: Onyx Moon by Constance Roberts
Amazing review Kelly. <3 Thank you so much for sharing and being honest. This book was a two star for me, so I liked it a little bit less than you, lol :D But yeah. I'm so happy you didn't love it either. There was just so many issues with it :\ I did like the ending, like you, but I also didn't like it. Sad face. I just.. I HATE drama. I hate it to pieces. And this drama was bad. I didn't like it at all. Sigh. I want books to make me happy. Especially the romance. I can take drama if it doesn't mess with the romance. But this did, and it made no sense to me. Didn't see the point of it :p But then, I wasn't really invested with any of the characters in the beginning either. Sigh. Anyway. Love your review sweetie. <3
Carina Olsen recently posted…In My Mailbox #170
Thanks for the honest review. Might stay clear of that book.
I don’t usually read contemporaries. this doesn’t interest me and your review definitely made up my mind.
Megan K. Noblett recently posted…astronomy-to-zoology:White-fringed Antwren (Formicivora…
Well,I have to admit that I am really surprised by your review.When I clicked on the link,I expected a positive review like all those I’ve read before for this book.
But I can understand you,as I’ve had my share of experiences of DNFing or ending up being disappointed with a famous book that carries around a lot of hype.
Sometimes I think,it’s the hype that actually does it.
Thanks for the honest review,Kelly!
Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales recently posted…Confessions of a 16 year old
I was looking forward to this book too! I was pretty excited actually, because I read so many good reviews, but after reading your detailed review I realized that the good reviews weren’t so specific, so yours convinced me not to buy the book!
not my kind of book
Awww. Sorry you didn’t like it. I loved Something Real too!