* * * 1/2
Emmy’s best friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped
by his father ten years ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right
where it left off. Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably
driven them apart?
Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life.
She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go
anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t
seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.
Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.
He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good
guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the
run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at
once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.
Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or
maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul,
despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been
severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts
like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?
Readers who love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages
with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing
consequences of Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age
emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an
unforgettable story.
Emmy & Oliver starts with Emmy’s recollection of the last
time she saw Oliver when they were seven years-old. That day and the events leading up to his disappearance have
stayed with her since. Though she and her friends moved on, she still remembers
him, holding out hope that her childhood best friend and neighbor will
reappear someday.
That someday arrives ten years later. They’re 17 now and so
much has happened in between. Oliver’s return is extremely awkward for
everyone. His family wants him to have space and time to adjust leaving Emmy to
wonder if he’s the same boy she remembers. Oliver’s readjustment to his home
and school are not easy but somehow Emmy is able to reach him and they begin to
reconnect. He confides in her that he’s feeling overwhelmed and
trapped by his mother’s expectations. Apparently they have that in common
because she feels confined by her mother’s overprotectiveness.
The story deals with a number of things. First we have Emmy
seeking more independence and space from her well-meaning but overprotective
mom. She doesn’t even know that her daughter loves surfing and wants to surf
for a college team. Despite that, Emmy is a bright young woman with a good head
on her shoulders. She understands where all the worry stems from. Then there’s
a very solemn Oliver who’s painfully assimilating into life with his mom and
her new family. He’s trying so hard to keep everyone happy without causing too
much disruption. Everyone is expecting him to be ecstatic about being saved and to automatically fit into this new life. But the truth is that he has mixed feelings about his dad and
what he did. When he reveals his dilemma to Emmy it’s one of the most genuine
moments in the book. It’s a perspective that would never have occurred to me
and was handled very sweetly.
I couldn't help picturing Emmy and Oliver as little kids, innocent and carefree because that's what I wanted to return to. And I see that I pictured them the way this little community
continued to see Oliver even upon his return – as a child. Child abduction is
horrifying and his disappearance had reverberating effects. His return should have been a veryhappy reunion for the family signaling a return to life as normal before the bad stuff happened. The truth
is, it's awkward and hard. Everyone has changed and they all need to make room and adjust. Oliver’s
fragility in all of this broke my heart into little pieces. But things have a
way of righting themselves and Emmy & Oliver delivers on that in its own
way.
~ Bel
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