You Were Here by Cori McCarthy | Well, Color Me Surprised!

Title: You Were Here

Author: Cori McCarthy

Standalone

Published: March 1st, 2016

LINKS: AMAZON (affiliate link)


  Synopsis:  Jaycee is about to accomplish what her older brother Jake couldn't: live past graduation.

  Jaycee is dealing with her brother's death the only way she can – by re-creating Jake's daredevil stunts. The ones that got him killed. She's not crazy, okay? She just doesn't have a whole lot of respect for staying alive.
 Jaycee doesn't expect to have help on her insane quest to remember Jake. But she's joined by a group of unlikely friends – all with their own reasons for completing the dares and their own brand of dysfunction: the uptight, ex-best friend, the heartbroken poet, the slacker with Peter Pan syndrome, and... Mik. He doesn't talk, but somehow still challenges Jayce to do the unthinkable-reveal the parts of herself that she buried with her brother.
 Cori McCarthy's gripping narrative defies expectation, moving seamlessly from prose to graphic novel panels and word art poetry. From the petrifying ruins of an insane asylum to the skeletal remains of the world's largest amusement park, You Were Here takes you on an unforgettable journey of friendship, heartbreak, and inevitable change.

I was worried at first when I picked this book up, becuase I don't like to read about depression much- I am easily influenced and I know my limits is all I can say. And yes, this book did deal with the characers getting over their depressions, but it was also about a lot more than that when you actually read it.


  First, this book is definitely YA and older- there were just some things mentioned (nothing too bad though) and the stuff the characters were dealing with aren't things I would've been okay reading about when I was twelve. Teen years? Sure. Past my teen years? Sure.


I was not happy with the dual povs at first, I just wanted Jaycee as the protagonist. But after the first two chapters, I loved being able to see through the others' eyes and while I wasn't as attatched to some of the characters or love them all- I loved how the author did that.

Another part I loved: one of the characters has his pov chapters told in a comic strip style!!

Everything about this book was original and just so well done- how the story was told and then the characters the author chose to focus on, not to mention the things she decided each of them had as their secret and then their coping mechanisms.

The characters I was annoyed by in the beginning almost made me cry later in the book because I liked them so much!

The romance...so there's technically two couples- one that really shouldn't be together, and one that we need together against all odds because they is adorable and OTP!! There was no Instant Love y'all!!

While I still didn't like Natalie, she did grow on me halfway through. I just didn't like the way she treated Zach at all or even Jaycee after her brother died.

My favorite characters in order: Jaycee, Mik, Zach, Bishop (notice Natalie still did not make the list, though she did get better!)


The ending... read until the very last sentence you guys, oh gosh this is my new favorite contemporary!! Instead of just romance, there was so much to these characters and their lives- it was just so good!

This book ended up surprising me a lot, because I immediately had ideas about how it was going to go or how depressing it would be. Or how I wouldn't like the characters, but crap. I was wrong.

When everything tied together in the end and the author still said what would happen to them all next, I almost died from happiness!


Can I just mention the cover? It's what made me pick the book up anyway, despite the sad synopsis.


[My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐] [4.5 stars]


Have any of you read this book? What did you think?? Does it sound good to you guys??

Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel