I'll Meet You There in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Nov 15, 2015 Jana rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle, fiction, fya, 2015

November FYA pick. This was a good one to read on my flight today. I love accurate depictions of rural and/or poor life, and was impressed by how well this book captured what it's like to grow up a good distance away from any chain retail stores, feeling stuck in the middle of nowhere. Sweet romance between the main characters, strong depiction of the anxiety/relief about moving away from one's small town to go to college, and lovely best friendships. I was surprisingly touched by Josh's story, ...more

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Jan 07, 2015 Meghan rated it really liked it

I read this book for FYA club. I have to confess that I had a difficult time with it at the beginning. I know, as a reader, you're supposed to care about Josh, the young vet who lost his leg in Afghanistan and is going through major PTSD without basically any family support. However, I heartily disliked Josh up until maybe the last 3rd of the novel. Sky is a smart, creative person and I felt strongly that she shouldn't fall for some guy who screws everything that moves, reigns in the popular cro I read this book for FYA club. I have to confess that I had a difficult time with it at the beginning. I know, as a reader, you're supposed to care about Josh, the young vet who lost his leg in Afghanistan and is going through major PTSD without basically any family support. However, I heartily disliked Josh up until maybe the last 3rd of the novel. Sky is a smart, creative person and I felt strongly that she shouldn't fall for some guy who screws everything that moves, reigns in the popular crowd, bullies others, and calls her best friend "a fag". Even post-combat Josh seemed like a walking sex joke 90% of the time, so it didn't make sense that he and Sky somehow would have been friends before or after his deployment.

Honestly, if it hadn't been a club pick and I wasn't the fearless leader I am (or try to be anyways), I might not have made it past the first 30 pages or so. That being said, I loved Sky, Dylan, and Chris and SO badly wanted good things to come out for them somehow, despite their (especially Sky's, family problems etc) often very grim reality and all the poverty they faced. Though I thought sometimes the characters regularly veered into the too-easy language of one-dimensional stereotypes. Despite all that, I appreciated many elements of the story over time. More than anything else, I loved that it didn't just focus on the lives of entitled, rich white kids (one can truly only deal with so many mean-girl private/boarding school stories in the YA world or otherwise). Also, the research Demetrios clearly did beforehand on the stories of veterans in the modern day and the problems they face after coming home was very evident and appreciated. That part of Josh's character, his trauma and his memories of the war and his fellow soldiers, actually never felt stereotypical to me.

"I'll Meet You There" was warm, complex, uncompromisingly gritty, and different than I first expected. So few stories can really surprise me and veer from my expectations lately - so bravo to you, Heather Demetrios. 3.5 stars, rounding up to a nearly solid 4 stars. ...more

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Mar 04, 2015 LaRaie rated it liked it

Shelves: female-protagonist, realistic-fiction, romantic, war

There were a few things that made this book for me. One, the protagonist is an artist. I love reading about artist's creations. Those parts are very cool. Two, it was refreshing to read a realistic romance with characters who aren't white upper middle class or wealthy. Okay, so they're white, but they are poor. They are seeking a way out of their situations because they are pretty much destitute. I don't often see this POV in popular YA fiction, so, points. Three, while this book is a romance, i There were a few things that made this book for me. One, the protagonist is an artist. I love reading about artist's creations. Those parts are very cool. Two, it was refreshing to read a realistic romance with characters who aren't white upper middle class or wealthy. Okay, so they're white, but they are poor. They are seeking a way out of their situations because they are pretty much destitute. I don't often see this POV in popular YA fiction, so, points. Three, while this book is a romance, it deals with many teen issues such as domestic problems, death, war, disability, alcoholism, teen pregnancy, coming-of-age, college and working, with the same weight as the relationship. Four, the story is very well-done. Even some of the ancillary characters (MARGE) are sweetly developed and lovely. Great story, complete with awesome musical references and references to Top Gun.

That said, there are a few slurs in this book that felt wrong to me. A sort of homophobic vibe that at one point is called out by the main character as being what it is: hate speech. However, this is language you would expect in a town like this. Honestly, if anything, the author was downplaying the kind of racist, backwards, homophobic vibe that probably exists in these circles. There is something disconcerting about reading a book that feels like it can't be as real as it could be because it would have to be really offensive. At one point, the characters arrive at an impasse where one says "gay" and the other says "don't say that" and then the other says "don't be PC" and she's like "well someone has to." That's about as far as you get with the level of social justice and awareness in this reality.

ONE OTHER THING that bugged me. While the female protagonist often calls out men and boys for misogynistic remarks or behavior, and even though she loves Top Gun like it's the only movie in the whole entire world (for good reasons of her own), she refers to the woman in Top Gun as "the blonde chick that Tom Cruise is into." Not cool, Ms. Demetrios. Her name is Kelly McGillis. ...more

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Oct 11, 2015 Andronike rated it really liked it

Demetrios does a great job of carrying the metaphor of a collage running strong throughout the novel. She also does a great job building up her characters and how they fit into each other's world. She doesn't pretend to know more about a subject than her research allowed. I also appreciate that she didn't try to really present the extent that Josh is suffering from his PTSD, and leaves that to the reader to fill in, as she displays minor details commonly reported.

She does a good job of keeping ...more

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Apr 09, 2015 Akilah rated it liked it

Shelves: alcoholism-addiction, book-club, characters-with-disabilities, 2015, pbrecs

2.5 stars, rounding up

This book does a lot of things I like, but I had a really hard time connecting with the characters and it seemed like I was reading it FOREVER, so that's never a good thing. But I finished. And the ending didn't annoy me, so that's a plus. ...more

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