You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz

I just love my novels in verse, so when I had a chance to pick one free book out of any, I instantly went for You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz. I'm not sure why I waited until that moment to pick up a copy, but it was an easy choice. You Are Not Here is the story of Annaleah, after the death of Brian, the boy she loved but who never quite made their relationship official. As a result, Annaleah ended up ditching her friends, and when Brian dies she finds herself alone.

Even though he is already dead by the time You Are Not Here starts, I definitely wasn't a fan of Brian and the way that he treated Annaleah, but at the same time, it felt like she should almost no better. Of course, she is a teenager and it is much easier to judge from the outside than inside that feeling of first love. In terms of emotion and grieving, Schutz captures it very well with her verse, the complicated balance between mourning and moving on, and the feelings that Annaleah has for Brian. Perhaps as a result, You Are Not Here feels like a very personal book, and the other characters do not have much dimension to them, and their relationship with Annaleah is less strong.

Overall, I thought Schutz did an excellent job with the verse in You Are Not Here as well as capturing emotion in a vivid way, so that even though the other characters and storyline could have been stronger, I would still be interested in reading more from Schutz in the future.

Release Date: October 1st 2010 Pages: 292  Format: Ebook
Source: Personal  Publisher: Push  Buy It: Book Depository