The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Challenge #1 ~ “A book related to ‘In the beginning…'”

startofmeandyou

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

It’s not my favourite Lord book, and I was fairly indifferent to the story at the start, but it grew on me with every chapter and was certainly an enjoyable read. The whole cast were realistic, relatable and (best of all) not just romance-oriented fixtures. The tale also handles some sensitive but important themes, which Lord does with her usual skill and finesse, making it an educational and reflective contemporary as well as just fun.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

The characters were truly the core strength of this novel. Spanning a diverse range, each is complex, realistic and multi-faceted – an achievement that takes much talent. Not only that, but their relationships and interactions are such that they too are multi-dimensional and realistic, whilst also not proving entirely unnecessary to the storyline (and, no, I don’t know how Lord achieves such a thing!)

A warning for the book:

The beginning was lacklustre for me – I just couldn’t find to mesh with any of the characters or events, and there was nothing to pull me into the story. It certainly grew on me as the pages progressed, but I know from experience that Lord can do better (which is exciting, because this is the earliest of her books that I’ve read to-date, and so I know her writing improves with time!) Still, my advice: keep going, even if you’re not swept away in the initial chapters, because it blooms into quite the cute contemporary.

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