The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Title: The Start of Me and You

 Author: Emery Lord

 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

 Date Published: March 31, 2015

 Genre: Contemporary, Romance

 Pages: 384 (Hardcover)

 Age Range: 14+






                                                                           Summary:

     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?


                                                                           Review:

     Was this book cliched? Yep! Predictable? Absolutely! Was it cute, heart-warming, and really nice to read? Undeniably.
     A little while ago, a little book called Open Road Summer exploded all over the place. It was immensely popular, and it also just happened to be written by Emery Lord. Confession time! I still haven't read ORS- I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I will read it, but I ended up reading this one first to see what the big deal about Emery Lord was all about. This book did not influence my decision to read ORS at all, and yes, I will still ORS.
     Now that is all out of the way, to the fun stuff! I walked into the book knowing that Max was going to end up being endgame, so I don't see why the Ryan/ Max thing was such an issue... I enjoyed Ryan's character, I liked getting to know him and I liked the flirty anxiety in the beginning, but after it dragged on for three-quarters of the book, I got a little tired of it because it meant less time being flirty and awkward with Max. Potential was wasted swooning over Ryan, because Ryan obviously had the hots for someone else.
     I thoroughly enjoyed most of the characters. Sometimes, though, I wanted to shake them for making stupid decisions. Like Paige and all of her PLANNING for pursuing Ryan, and Max making Paige go on the diving board. Paige's parents were existing, but absent. Their little twist didn't really add anything to the story for me.
     Besides those things, however, I enjoyed the book. The writing was easy, and had some really sweet lines. The characters were awesome, and I really liked the whole QuizBowl shenanigans. Ms. Pepper had me in stitches, and I wish we got some more of her in this book. I especially liked the array of best friends that we get to see.
     Besides a few things here and there The Start of Me and You was a pretty solid book- not bad at all. I will read Open Road Summer, I promise. I just have to get around to it.