(Review) I'll Meet You There

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Published: 2015

Pages: 379

Genre: Young Adult

My Goodreads Rating: Four Stars

This book was a random recommendation off of Goodreads and I just thought "Why not?" so I put myself on the hold list at my library. I'm trying to learn to rent instead of own just in case I don't like a book. (Please don't ask how that's working out for me.) Anyway, I got the book, downloaded the book, forgot about the book. That is, until I got the notification that my book loan was going to expire. So, of course, I didn't want to wait again to check it out. 

At first I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to read the book in three days considering it's the last week of school and I have a ton of other stuff I should be doing, but I managed it. And by "managed it" I obviously mean that I ignored all the things I was supposed to be doing and laid on the couch all day yesterday to read. 

Okay, here we go. Skylar is a freshly graduated girl in a crappy little town just waiting to get out. Most of the events that took place in Skylar's life were like a page out of the small town I grew up in, which was kind of weird.  Skylar is a character that's fairly easy to relate to. She worked hard all of her life to overcome the hand that she'd been dealt and was looking forward to moving on. Of course, once her mom gets fired from her job (at Taco Bell, no less), Skylar is the main breadwinner in the family. This complicates things a little.

Also complicating things: Josh Mitchell. Josh is older, a Marine, and an all-around playboy. (Everyone knows everything in small towns, trust me.) Josh has also got some issues that he's brought home with him from the war: mainly a prosthetic leg and PTSD. 

The chapters alternate between Skylar and Josh but, while Skylar's are narrative and involve dialogue and major events, Josh's are pretty dark. It's like the narrative is mostly in his head and he's talking to one of his fallen comrades. It's interesting to be in Josh's head because there's a part of him that is so broken and doesn't want to carry on. The part of him that lost his leg and his best friend to an IED; but there's a lot more to him, too. 

He knows he has a terrible reputation around town, but he honestly wants to be friends with Skylar. He doesn't try to take her out or make a move on her and it's kind of refreshing to see that relationship grow rather than have to kids fall in love right off the bat. Skylar is the only one who doesn't pity him or treat him any differently and it really starts to help him recover in a very small way. 

The two main characters have some pretty great banter and most of the drama revolves around the friends and Skylar's mom. I wasn't too keen on any of them, but they were pretty vital to the story. The relationship between Skylar and her mother is rocky and at times you want to slap both of them upside the head, but things always work out in the end, right? 

This was a great read if you're looking for something a little angsty and maybe a little fluffy. There are some times when the drama is a little much and some of the language was a little crass for my taste, but all-in-all a good read. I love the way the two main characters evolved from beginning to end despite everything they had going against them. 

You know how I love character growth. ;)