Book Talk & GIVEAWAY: You Know Me Well by David Levithan & Nina LaCour

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed. That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way. When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other— and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

I am a big fan of David Levithan’s work and super enjoyed Nina LaCour’s Everything Leads To You so I was very excited to read a book co-written by the two because I know I love both of their writing and they both have this knack for these poignant stories that make me think a lot. And they certainly delivered!!

3 reasons I really enjoyed it:

1. I really love books that are set in that time right before high school lets out or the summer right before college because there is SO MUCH to explore — the way everything feels like it’s changing, the nostalgia but also that strange disconnect you can feel, the way the future seems like this expansive and blurry thing, the way you want to change your mind a million times about said future, etc. Through Kate’s character we especially see this uncertainty and that feeling of being kind of lost and of questioning what you really think you want. Even just in the way that she wants to be called Kate and not Katie. Oh have I been there — feeling like you’ve outgrown something or need a fresh start or want to take little steps to shed some of the person you don’t feel like you are anymore. I think this book captures all that REALLY well.

2. I really loved the friendship between Mark and Kate. It so perfectly captures those rare moments where you meet someone and you just feel that click — that feeling like you’ve known them forever and you can’t believe they haven’t always been there in your life. I have been lucky to experience that feeling where you just fall in step with someone and it doesn’t matter that you don’t have years of shared history because somehow you are able to cut right to the important places and just KNOW each other. This is what Mark and Kate experience and I loooooved their freaking adorable friendship and how they could be there for each other and had a different perspective on the other’s life because they are just coming into it.  I think, especially for Mark, he realizes that Kate fills this void the way his actual best friend can’t in a lot of ways because of the sexual undercurrents in their relationship. And, for Kate, she’s feeling like she’s not sure if she’s happy with the path her life is shaping up to take and Mark is this person who doesn’t REALLY know her or expect this path for her and he feels like new possibilities and beginnings that could be.

3. I loved the way first love is explored: Both Kate and Mark are experiencing their first love in different ways. Mark has been in love with his best friend forever and I think he just always has this notion that it’s going to work out between them eventually and he’s shaken up when he realizes maybe he will never look at him like that. Kate has been in love with this idea of Violet from afar and doesn’t know what to when the prospect of her dreams could come true…it becomes TOO REAL. I just loved how each of them is forced to confront this idea in their head about this first love of theirs and grapple with some hard truths about themselves and love.

My only qualm is that I didn’t really feel SUPER connected to either of the characters even though I liked them and I FELT the things they were going through. Does that even make sense? I can’t explain it. They just didn’t latch on to me the way I need for them to be super memorable. I felt a little removed from them.

+ writing, friendship, first love, LGBT+, thought-provoking, cuteness feels
–  a lack of ~something~ with the characters

Should you read it? YES!

Should you buy it or borrow it? I think it’s a nice addition to your shelves if you are already a fan of either authors and have their other books. I’d say borrow otherwise just because, for me,  most of the time it has to be a favorite book or one I’d reread, for me to say buy it!

people who like complicated love & cute first love feels, readers who love a good friendship, people looking for books where the main characters are openly out and it’s not about them coming out, books with f/f and m/m love interests, fans of David & Nina’s previous books

I really enjoyed You Know Me Well and how it explored friendship, first loves and how sometimes the future, especially beginnings and endings of life chapters, can make you feel uncertain about who you are and what you want in life. Great writing and thought-provoking subjects explored through Mark and Kate’s friendship that pushes them to face certain truths.

And now for the giveaway…

Thanks to St. Martin YOU lovely people have a chance to win You Know Me Well! It’s open to US addresses only and you must be 13 years or older to enter. No purchase necessary.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?