Review: THE GEOGRAPHY OF YOU AND ME

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.  

I have been in a long distance relationship for like a year and a half now so maybe that's why at some point I was able to appreciate this story and its sentiments. I have voiced out my opinion towards This is what happy looks like and it turned out to be This is what boring looks like to me. It was pretty much harsh but it spoke truth on my part. Jennifer E. Smith's books have made quite a buzz which made the cat curious.  

 "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

When I learned what this story is all about I was keen to know how  she'd be able to pull it all off. I mean, they're basically strangers, they only met once and apparently that meeting turned out be like sparks flying. And as you may all notice that's the starting point of all J.Smith's story. What I was looking forward to was how they'd be able to develop a relationship with such little and inconsistent communication with each other. Their means of communication was through postcards and emails which isn't exactly an ideal way to use when you're in a long distance relationship so it got me saying, I wanna know more. I feel like this is some sort of a good challenge for the protagonists. How would they work this all out considering Lucy moved out all of a sudden to a new country?

"How long could a single night really be expected to last? How far could you stretch such a small collection of minutes?"

It was all of a sudden. It was like, they suddenly met and then they suddenly just went apart from each other. And those all happened in the first few chapters of the story. It's like we were forced to love and admire a relationship or couple with such little amount of moments between them.  And that was such a challenge for us too because we had to decide whether we wanna move forward with this story or not and I'm proud that a lot have taken the challenge like me. 

"There was no point in waiting for someone who hadn't asked, and there was no point in wishing for something that would never happen."

As much as I doubt the postcards and emails as being effective means of communication I have found it quite more endearing, more intimate and more meaningful than receiving texts. I'm not against texting or calling, I mean, my boyfriend do that a lot but I don't know, postcards and emails just screams effort to me. And you get to have something from that person you love that you can keep. I mean, you'd be able to hold postcards, it's cute and with the emails, not everyone is bold enough to use them nowadays but you know, its cute too and its different. Its like bringing the old times back. You know what I mean? But hey, when you're in a long distance relationship, every means of communication is important and special to you. 

"Maybe they were never meant to have more than just one night. After all, not everything can last. Not everything is supposed to mean something."

What I also love about this book is that, there was no instant love between the characters. The relationship they have are a product of a challenged long distance friendship.

The character aren't very dynamic. There was little development. I love how they were introduced and how I was able to learn so much about them, their relationship with their family and how they dealt with issues surrounding them. The idea of them having different relationship with other people was nice. I felt like it helped a lot for them to actually work on what they felt towards each other and to finally come terms to what they have between them.

"When there was nothing but space between you, everything felt like a leap." 

The story is obviously fluffy, just cute and romantic in a very light way kind of a contemporary. It's not exactly life-changing, it doesn't make you wanna have a Long Distance Relationship with anyone but I can  guarantee you that it's a quick read you'd definitely love and enjoy. It may not be the kind of book that would stick with you but it's definitely worth the shot.

Review: THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE

If fate sent you an email, would you answer? When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.  Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

“There are different kinds of happy,” she said. “Some kinds don’t need any proof.”

Upon writing this review, I kept on wondering, "What do I really feel about this book?'. I mean, I was interested before as like everybody else. Some of the bookworms I know were gushing about this so, what did the bookworm inside me do? I got a copy because I just can't stop thinking, "What's the fuzz about?".

“Exactly. How can you know it makes you happy if you’ve never experienced it?” 

Well, it's a typical "girl meets and falls in love with a handsome famous boy who happens to have personal issues", blah, blah, blah, blah. I gotta say it's cliche and in my opinion, this is what boring and legitimately uninteresting story looks like. No offence to the fans and all but I'm not impressed. Aside from the fact that I've heard stories like this a bunch of times so, it's not exactly unique per se, it's just not the kind of book you'd get hooked on to or to the point that you don't get to sleep because you can't stop reading.

It's plain boring. I wasn't moved. I wasn't hooked. I didn't fall in love with the characters nor did I come to love their connection to each other coz I believe there's no connection or chemistry. What I did notice is that it is fast. The whole L-O-V-E is too fast. It's like *snap* I'm in love. It's instantaneous. 

They met online. They talk to each other using email. That's it. They didn't even talk over the phone or see each other via Skype or something to at least feel that there is an attraction going on between them. I mean, how would u know that you actually like this person from the other side of the World Wide Web/Internet? He/she is basically a stranger and more importantly, might be a serial killer or a pedophile. You don't even know if those things in that email are completely true. The default thing to do to actually verify if that person you're talking to online is, at least, who he/she really is, to see the person via Skype. And from that point, you don't instantaneously fall in love. That's crazy. Sure you feel like you two have a connection, share the same interest and all but L-O-V-E? Nu-uh! Don't be too gullible. This is not "Love at first click/email".

It's funny. How they knew that it must be something more or that Graham wanted to kiss her instantly. I mean, you don't know the person. Your information is basically unverified and verified by one person only and that's her/him.

Honestly, I only liked the first few chapters. The emailing and stuff were cute but that's it. Beyond that, it's blah. No climax. Nothing to get excited about. No hype. I mean, I'm supposed to get excited to the fact that they'd meet for the first time but since the characters are delusional, thinking they feel more about each other, I just yawned. 

The personal issues of the characters are realistic but not well thought of. I guess I'm pointing to Graham's issue with his parents. Doesn't make any sense to me. There are contradictions with how their characters are established or how the situation is established. I get it that the author wants to, you know, make things happy and all so at the end she claims that his parents are keeping tabs on him. 

“Childhood memories were like airplane luggage; no matter how far you were traveling or how long you needed them to last, you were only ever allowed two bags. And while those bags might hold a few hazy recollections—a diner with a jukebox at the table, being pushed on a swing set, the way it felt to be picked up and spun around—it didn’t seem enough to last a whole lifetime.” 

And don't get me started with Ellie and her mom's financial issues. Her mom is completely selfish. I mean, I get it she has pride and dignity that's why she refused money from the biological father but c'mon, if you know that you can't fully support your kid then shove that pride away and think about what's best for your kid's future. Money is important. Let's not lie. And in Ellie's case, it is proven. 

“Maybe growing up was really nothing more than growing away: from your old life, from your old self, from all those things that kept you tethered to your past.” 

Anyway, I really can't believe I finished the book. But it wasn't easy since it's not something I'd love to sit through the very end. Obviously, I am looking for more than just cuteness. More concrete plot, I guess. But I'd definitely recommend it to those who are just into fluff and this kind of cliche story. But you know, I'm not closing doors to Jennifer's book. I'm actually liking her The Geography of You and Me. Just kudos to her illustrator. The covers are pretty. Hooking, actually.