THE START OF ME AND YOU by Emery Lord Book Review
Publication Date: March 31st 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Rating: 
– Acceptable | 
Book Summary: Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.
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?
Book Review Overview:
- Wished that the cast of characters was more diverse
- Full of friendships; these characters were actually nice to each other
- Super cute romance
In THE START OF ME AND YOU by Emery Lord, it’s been over a year since Paige’s 2-month boyfriend died drowning from an accident. Ever since, she’s been known as That Girl. She’s determined to overcome her trauma and to move on, she makes a plan that includes: get back to socializing with her peers, date again, participate in more extra curricular activities, and most importantly, get over her fear of drowning and swim again.
While I’m not usually one to constantly gripe about the lack of diversity in book publishing, I couldn’t help but complain this time around. I honestly almost stopped reading THE START OF ME AND YOU by Emery Lord after the first fifty pages because I just couldn’t help but feel that the novel was so white-washed. There could have easily been a minority character in the novel without having it become a race-centric novel. It just gets really disheartening after a while to read a fun, contemporary YA when everyone is white. Like where’s the cute romance for Asian teens? Why can’t my younger self have a high school romance? // End rant.
But despite the lack of diversity in THE START OF ME AND YOU, I ended up liking the book a lot. One of the things that I enjoyed the most out of this novel was the fact that it was full of positive, reaffirming friendships. These girls and guys are just nice people! And the few times where they aren’t so nice to each other, they own up to it and they apologize for their horrendous behavior. I have to say, it was refreshing to read a novel where teenagers are treating each other with respect.
The romance in this book is a bit predictable, but that’s okay because the journey is where all the fun is at. From the beginning, it was obvious to me whom Paige was going to end up with, and I spent the whole book gleefully waiting for it to happen. It’s one of those romances where it’s obvious to everyone in the novel but the couple.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to like this book at all, so I’m glad that I read all the way through. The lack of diversity in the novel really kills me though, and this book would have been a 4-star read if the characters had been more diverse. The romance was adorable and I loved how their relationship progressed over the course of the book. I’ll definitely read more of Emery Lord’s books in the future!
