Book Review: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Book Review:  I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

A huge thank you goes out to Netgalley for giving me this ARC.  

Summary from Goodreads:

Goodreads.com

If seventeen-year-old Skylar Evans were a typical Creek View girl, her future would involve a double-wide trailer, a baby on her hip, and the graveyard shift at Taco Bell. But after graduation, the only thing standing between straightedge Skylar and art school are three minimum-wage months of summer. Skylar can taste the freedom—that is, until her mother loses her job and everything starts coming apart. Torn between her dreams and the people she loves, Skylar realizes everything she’s ever worked for is on the line.

Nineteen-year-old Josh Mitchell had a different ticket out of Creek View: the Marines. But after his leg is blown off in Afghanistan, he returns home, a shell of the cocksure boy he used to be. What brings Skylar and Josh together is working at the Paradise—a quirky motel off California’s dusty Highway 99. Despite their differences, their shared isolation turns into an unexpected friendship and soon, something deeper.

My Thoughts:

I honestly loved this book and did not want it to end.  I'll Meet You There is a raw and emotional story that is heartbreaking and also joyous. I do believe this one will make readers stop and think about life.  The two main characters are as real as characters can get.  

Skylar is trying to escape her messy family life - the feeling of helplessness of having a mother who is an alcoholic, who refuses to take care of her own daughter, and has had no will to live since Skylar's father passed away. Skylar is left to worry about what will happen to her mom if /when she leaves and goes to college.  She has no family to turn to to get her mother the help she needs and relies on her two best friends and the owner of the motel where she works in order to survive.  Throughout the whole novel, I felt that Skylar was constantly searching to figure out who she is and where she belongs.   

Then there is Josh.  Heather Demetrios was spot on in how she wrote his character. Throughout the story, Josh suffers through PSTD and the aftermath of coming home wounded from Afghanistan. He has nightmares, panic attacks, and persistent feelings of guilt.  He makes reckless decisions, is irritable, and has withdrawn from his family.  The only person who has helped him feel a bit more normal is Skylar and he continually pushes her away.  

I am going to hold Josh and Skylar close to my heart for a very long time.  I can't wait to get an actual copy of this novel and share it with my students.  I know there will be many students who will connect with and fall in love with Josh and Skylar too!