The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Genre: young adult, contemporary, romance, realistic fiction


Published: April 15th 2014


Pages: 337


Publisher: Poppy



                                  Synopsis

Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor. Owen lives in the basement. It's fitting, then, that they meet in the middle-stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building, on a elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering in the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
     The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh, and to San Francisco, to Prague, and to Portland, Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and phone calls. But can they-despite the odds-find a way to reunite?


                                                                     Thoughts

The plot from the above synopsis, is what drew me in to buy and read this book. Two people meeting in some random elevator?  Same apartment building? Power outage in New York? It was literally a perfect way to start a relationship with Lucy and Owen. It was 100% fate, it was like they were meant to be together. But anyways moving on with the review.

I loved the long distance aspect in this book, because it was so realistic. The circumstances were realistic for both characters, so they both had real reasons to leave New York in the first place. But the good thing was, that despite them being apart for most of the book, they both found a way to keep in touch, and communicate and that was through postcards. They email sometimes too, but it was mostly through postcards. It's really not often that I get to read books that involve a long distance relationship, so it was a definite refresher to read.

The cities that Lucy and Owen both travel to are just incredible. Lucy travels to Edinburgh, London, Rome, Prague etc.. and Owen travels to Portland, Seattle, Lake Tahoe etc.. Like I would love to go all of those places someday, some more than others, but they all seem like really great places. But really, the way that Jennifer E. Smith describes each of the places, makes the city sound more gorgeous then the city actually is.

Lucy, was a great character. She had a big heart (not literally), she was naive, and she was the most realistic character, I have ever read so far in 2014. I could relate to her on an emotional level more then anything. Her reactions to certain things that happen in this novel, were so realistic, that this is how any other girl would act (I hope), if this type of situation was happening to them. Now, this may seem repetitive since I say this sort of thing in, almost if not, all of my reviews, that she was not irritating in anyway, and she didn't make me want to punch a wall out ever. 

Owen, was also a great character in comparison to Lucy. He was very realistic, as well as optimistic. I loved his desire for adventure and wanting to travel the world. His feelings and thoughts were relatable and I was able to connect with him, and also relate to him on a emotional level, in similar to Lucy. There were parts in the book, where I just felt really sorry for him and his circumstances with his family. He wasn't the perfect boy, and that's what I liked the most about Owen. He had his internal flaws, and that's what being realistic is all about.

Overall, this book was a very light, fluffy, romantic, quick read. I really enjoyed it from beginning to end, and it may also be a favourite book of mine that I have read so far in 2014. I am so glad that I picked this one up. I fully recommend this, if you want a light, travel, cutesy, romantic read.


                                                                Rating

                                             5/5