Ashley Schumacher is now one of those newer authors who, when I see a new book of hers coming out, I immediately grab an ARC. Her first book, Amelia Unabridged, was a lovely story about friendship, grief and the magic of books. And her most recent, The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway, set at a Renaissance faire, was sweet and nerdy and great fun.
She continues an excellent writing streak with In the Orbit of You, about a young woman who has moved around so frequently with her single mother that she never gets to set down roots or make good friends. Nova is now a junior in high school and has “experimented” with different personalities and interests in all the schools she’s attended. Now, as she faces yet another school and ponders on trying to figure out who she really is, she’s shocked to come face to face with Sam, the boy who was her best friend and next-door neighbor as a child. They played outside together and promised, when he moved away, that they would find each other.
Nova was vaguely aware of his frequent bruises and cuts and how he tried to hide them, but she was too young to understand what they meant.
For his part, Sam has put that part of his life behind a wall. He’s been living with his loving and supportive aunt and uncle for more than a decade. No one at school knows about “the before.” Now he’s just a talented football player, popular, good-looking, with a cute cheerleader girlfriend and a promising future ahead of him.
When he sees Nova, he’s scared to look back at that early part of his life, but he can’t resist the pull to the close friend he had. That’s especially the case when a personality test everyone takes at school shows them to be a 99 percent match.
Nova and Sam revisit their friendship and realize there’s more to it, but life is complicated. And each of them has things to figure out about themselves. How can they possibly move forward with it?
I can say that Schumacher has scored again. In the Orbit of You doesn’t have the wit and entertainment value of Renaissance, but it’s another fine study on loss, trauma, friendship and finding yourself. I hope she keeps on bringing us more great books.
Rated: High. Profanity includes 10 uses of strong language, around 20 instances of moderate profanity, about 5 uses of mild language, and 25 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content is limited to kissing. One of the plot points is that a character had been abused by his parents as a child, and there are multiple references to that but not many details except for a few mentions of seeing some injuries sometimes in that past.
Click here to purchase your copy of In the Orbit of You on Amazon.
*I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
