The Start of Me and You (The Start of Me and You #1) by Emery Lord

The Start of Me and You | The Start of Me and You #1 | Emery Lord

March 31st 2015 | Bloomsbury 

Source: Library 

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

As soon as Emery lord announced that she was publishing a sequel to the start of me and you, I was so excited to pick up the new book. I figured that before I began the sequel I should read the first book to refresh my memory. I find it really fascinating to see how I feel about this book versus how I felt about it the first time I read it. You can read my original review below but essentially, I really love this book at the time I read it. I was in college and struggling a lot more than I wanted to admit and for some reason, the start of me and you was the book that helped me so much.

I really enjoyed The Start of Me and You the second time around. I found that this book was still just as easy and quick to read as before. Even more so, the friendships in this book are truly the highlight. I continue to love how Emery Lord writes friendships and family dynamics in her books. Her friends are present in her life and they have so many moments that I also found I could relate to. Pages parents, though divorced, we’re still very present in this book and I love that we got to see both of them in her life. Obviously this is not the case for every family that is divorced but it works very well in this book.

I will say that there are certain moments of this book that were incredibly hard to read this time around. I had my own personal battles with grief recently that mirrored Paige’s grief. It was an incredibly hard situation to read about and I ended up crying. It’s astounding to me that this book still makes me emotional, 5 years later.

I do want to point out that there is little racial diversity in this book. Paige’s best friend Kayleigh is biracial (white and Black). I also don’t think there are many queer characters. It’s not surprising but I am hopeful that the next book changes that. 

 You can read my original review on Goodreads.