Pages:
256
Publisher:
My Kinda Book
Release
Date: 2nd
June
Edition:
UK proof, review
copy
Other
Titles by this Author: David Levithan: Boy
Meets Boy, The Realm of Possibility, Are
We There Yet?,
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (with
Rachel Cohn), Wide Awake, Naomi &
Eli’s No-Kiss List (with Rachel Cohn), Love
is the Higher Law, Will
Grayson, Will Grayson (with
John Green), The Lover’s Dictionary, Dash
& Lily’s Book of Dares (with
Rachel Cohn), Invisibility
(with Andrea
Cremer), Every
Day, How
They Met and Other Stories,
Two
Boys Kissing,
Hold
Me Closer, Another
Day
Who
knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you
meet on a crazy night? No one, really?
Mark
and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken.
For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.
That
is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild,
unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally
meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love
with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.
When
Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to
each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better
than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.
Told
in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, the
best-selling author of Every
Day and co-author of Nick
and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with
Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest
story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a
time.
I’m a huge fan of both Nina
LaCour and David Levithan so I was giddy with excitement as soon as I heard the
announcement for You Know Me Well. It
definitely lived up to expectations!
The setting of San Francisco
during Pride Week was pulsing and vibrant and so perfect for Katie and Mark’s
adventures. The energy and freedom of Pride and the last week of school before
summer gave You Know Me Well the
perfect vibe for Katie to fall in love, friendship to blossom between her and
Mark and for Mark’s world to change.
I love how messy and complicated
the characters are. Katie is lively and confident, until it comes to her art
and her feelings; Mark plays on the baseball team and has suffered under his
feelings for, and unhealthy relationship with, his best friend Ryan for years. Nothing
comes easy for them. It takes missteps and mistakes, harsh truths and scary
steps, but they come out of Pride Week happier, stronger and more confident in
themselves and I loved the journeys that they took.
Both Levithan and LaCour are
wonderful, wonderful writers, and when David Levithan teams up, I usually end
up preferring his characters and his story, but not this time. I read Nina
LaCour’s Everything Leads to You last
year and was blown away by her, and she blew me away again. Don’t get me wrong,
I really liked Mark’s side of the story, but I was so there for Katie, and for
Nina’s writing. I can't get my head around why her solo novels aren’t published
over here. Get it together UK publishers!
You
Know Me Well is
a celebration of love, friendship and embracing who you are. I loved it
completely.
Thanks to My Kinda Book for the
review copy.
Sophie
I've been eyeing this up since you mentioned it to me a while back and with your review, I'm going to have to get a copy, aren't I? Sounds amazing!
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