Thursday, 13 August 2015

Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas - Book Review by Amy McCaw at YA Under My Skin

Quick stats:

Author: Leah Thomas
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury

This book is made up of the letters sent back and forth between two boys, Ollie and Moritz. The two can never meet because Ollie has seizures when he's exposed to any electricity, and Moritz has a pacemaker. Even being in each other's company would kill them both.

I don't give praise lightly, and am more than happy to dole out constructive criticism. In this case, I would struggle to think of any! I absolutely. Adored. This. Book, so much that I'm apparently not thinking in complete sentences.

It's not often that I read a book and can genuinely suspend belief, almost convincing myself that the characters are real. The letters sent between Ollie and Moritz feel utterly believable, and it is their poignant, realistic voices that brought the book to life.

This is one of those rare books that is beautifully written throughout, and so honest that at times it was hard to read. I went through every range of emotions, from laughing aloud to quietly sobbing behind my paperback (and attracting some very strange looks – don't read it by the side of a pool!)

The only reason I can think that some people may not like this book is because it does unfold slowly, and there isn't a massive amount of 'action'. To me, that was the point, that real life can be captured so convincingly on a page, and that it can be beautiful.

One of my favourite lines from the book is when one character told the other that he wanted to know the books that made him. 'Because you'll never meet me' is one of the books that made me.

Gushing over – you can go and buy it now!




If you liked the sound of this, now try:

- We were liars by E. Lockhart
- The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle
-Half Bad by Sally Green



Amy McCaw
YA Under My Skin
www.yaundermyskin.com
@yaundermyskin



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