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It’s the beginning of Paige Hancock’s junior year, and she’s decided she’s going to make this year different. She’s been known, not just at school but in her whole small town, for the past year as the Girl Whose Boyfriend Drowned: the first boyfriend she’d ever had, whom she dated for just two months, died, and while it affected her emotionally and mentally in a number of ways she’s still trying to really come to terms with, it is just as hard being labeled and seen as one thing. So she’s making a list (which she loves to do) of ways to make her upcoming year better.
One item is to get involved in school activities; another is to go to a party and socialize more; another is to date. And she is hoping she can catch the eye of the crush she’s had since middle school: Ryan Chase. She even runs into him at her favorite book/coffee shop right before the school year starts and learns they have an English class together, so maybe dating him could even be a possibility.
But not long into the school year, she ends up being thrown together with Ryan’s nerdy cousin, Max, who has just come back to their high school after going to a private school the previous year. They sit next to each other in English class; they do Quiz Bowl together. And she becomes really good friends with Max, which gets her closer to Ryan. But could it be that Max, sweet, fun but nerdy Max, is meant to be on her list instead?
The Start of Me and You got me invested in the characters. I felt for Paige and her challenges: She faces grief and guilt and frustration over being pegged as one Thing wherever she goes. She worries over a lot of things and struggles with anxiety. Her beloved grandmother has health difficulties, and her divorced parents throw her a curveball to worry about. All that’s not to mention just the standard high school challenges any teen has to face. But she works on ways to find happiness and has a great support system, with her family and friends. I liked her friends and their personalities and the way their group gets along. And her friendship and all the interactions with Max are really fun to witness. It’s sweet to watch their relationship progress.
This is a cute YA romance book, but it has heft, with a main character who deals with anxiety and trauma and some real concerns in her family. I found it sticking with me and was pleased to be able to read the follow-up, The Map from Here to There.
Rated: Mild, for occasional instances of mild and moderate language, brief kissing, a secondary character saying something about “fooling around” with a boy (the extent of which is not at all clear), and the understanding that that secondary character was at a wild party.
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