Title: You Are Not Here
Author: Samantha Schutz
Release date: October 1, 2010
Publisher: Push
Pages: 292
Source: Bookstore
Reading level: YA
Annaleah and Brian shared something special – Annaleah is sure of it. When they were together, they didn’t need anyone else. It didn’t matter that their relationship was secret. All that mattered was what they had with each other.
And then, out of nowhere, Brian dies. And while everyone else has their role in the grieving process, Annaleah finds herself living outside of it, unacknowledged and lonely.
How can you recover from a loss that no one will let you have?
You Are Not Here is only the second book I’ve read that is written in verse and I have to say that this style is really growing to become one of my favorites. Samantha Schutz has written an amazing story of love, loss, and finding out how to keep living.
Annaleah is not an easy character to like at first. She’s very naïve and on top of that she’s rather rude to her friends. She cuts herself off from the world and she just stops caring about living. The remainder of her life is all about Brian, even though he was only a part of her life for a few short months and she wasn’t even fully a part of his life. Her day revolves around the time she can visit his grave and she looks to him for signs of what she should do with her life. She’s not a healthy person but seeing her change is probably the best part of the book. And as she changes it becomes easier to see why she let Brian dictate so much of her life and why she couldn’t move on. I didn’t like her in the beginning but I sure did in the end.
Secondary characters are the hardest part of verse novels for me. I feel like they don’t get nearly enough page time and it’s hard to connect to them. That really wasn’t the case with You Are Not Here. Joy, Parker, Marissa, and Ethan were all great people and awesome friends. None of them were in the book a whole lot but their personalities really came across when they were there. Joy cracked me up, as did Parker. Marissa and Ethan were a little more serious but they still managed to make me laugh and I loved how much they cared for Annaleah. I would also say Brian was a secondary character in this book, at least through flashbacks. I never really connected to him but it at least shows how Annaleah got so caught up in their relationship.
The best part about a book written in verse is how fast-paced it is. No matter how slow the story might be (in this case not slow at all) the writing helps speed it along. You Are Not Here had the benefit of both being written in verse and having a fascinating story. This is a book you can fly through in a couple hours.
Overall, if you are a fan of verse novels and haven’t checked out You Are Not Here, what are you waiting for? If you aren’t a fan of verse novels I highly recommend checking one out and this one would definitely be a good place to start!
What others are saying about You Are Not Here:
The Book Scout’s review: “You Are Not Here was a stunning novel filled with heartbreakingly beautiful passages and stunning writing.”
The Story Siren’s review: “An emotional and fast read, You Are Not Here is a beautiful story of love, loss and forgiveness.”
YA Librarian Tales’ review: “This book will do best with teens who have experienced a deep well of emotional grief themselves, whether that is with the death of a boyfriend or just the death of a close loved one, friend or family. ”
This book sounds wonderful!!!!! Thanks for the great review 🙂 Adding to my list!
I have never read a book written in verse before but I will totally add this to my TBR pile. Awesome review, I am glad that you were able to fall in love with all the characters and not just the main one.
AH! THIS BOOK SOUNDS AMAZING ACTUALLY! 😀 And I’ve actually been dying to read something in verse, especially one like this.
Never wanted to read novels in verse before I tried Ellen Hopkins’ awesome stories. They were so real and emotional and it came through incredibly well in verse.
Glad this one is so good, and I think the premise, about a girl not being able to grieve because she loved in secret, is such an interesting one.
Lovely review 🙂