Rashika, The Book Owl

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

You Know Me Well is an incredibly well-written feel-good book that doesn’t hold up as well when you start examining some of the finer threads that make up the novel. Never-the-less, it moved me and made me feel lots of mushy gushy things.

One of the finer threads I am referring to is the way time works in this novel. While I occasionally enjoy stories that take place during a short timeline, there are times when it doesn’t work for me and I become painfully aware of the short period of time in which the story is taking place. This was the case with You Know Me Well . The events in the book takes place over a week and given the pacing of this book, everything goes by really fast and it all just seems like a week isn’t enough for such major things to happen.

There is also a perfect quality to the ways in which everything works out. It seems almost fairy-tale and unearthly. Like bad things happen but also, lots of good things, which is completely valid and a thing that happens in real life but there are SO many highs and lows and conflicts and resolutions within the span of 5 days that it seems unreal.

Even though the book seems unreal at times, it is also captivating and sweeps you away on a magical journey about growing up, first love, friendship and all that jazz. You Know Me Well is also one of the few books that in my opinion tackles college in a manner that is actually realistic.

Kate for one has a tendency to hide from her problems and it takes her a while to realize that she isn’t actually ready for college even though she got into one of her top (if not the top) choices. Sometimes, you aren’t ready. Sometimes things happen and you need time to figure out the person you are before you are ready to tackle the challenge of college/university.

Along the way, Kate also makes a new friend who she has a healthier relationship with and also helps her realize the ways in which her past relationships have changed and also the ways in which she might have expectations from these relationships that aren’t necessarily real.

Miles is this friend and the way in which these two engage with one another is AMAZING. It’s one of the best friendships I’ve read in a while and made me all mushy inside.  

Miles is the other main character of the novel and one who had a painful journey with love. He is in love with his best friend and things might not end with the HEA he wants. Miles has to figure out what relationships matter to him and deal with the fact that HEAs don’t always happen in the way in which one might expect.

Basically, both these character are wonderful and adorable and so much fun to read about. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a feel-good book that won’t fail to make you smile.

Note that I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review