tl;dr the dual timeline masterpiece you never saw coming
Premise
Stevie Rosenstein has never made a true friend. Never fallen in love. Moved from city to city by her father’s unrelenting job, it’s too hard to care for someone. Trust in anything. The pain of leaving always hurts too much. But she’ll soon learn to trust, to love.
Twice.
Drew and Shane have been best friends through everything. The painful death of Shane's dad. The bitter separation of Drew's parents. Through sleepaway camps and family heartache, basketball games and immeasurable loss, they've always been there for each other.
When Stevie meets Drew and Shane, life should go on as normal.
But a simple coin toss alters the course of their year in profound and unexpected ways.
Rating
5/5 stars
Review
This book made me absolutely lose my mind. I will never look at a coin the same ever again.
Where It All Lands follows three main characters: Stevie, Drew, and Shane. Stevie is the new girl in town, and Drew and Shane have been best friends for years. After Drew and Shane meet Stevie, both guys want to ask her out. So, the boys do what they've done for the past ten years when they've had a disagreement: flip a coin. If the coin lands on heads, Drew gets to ask Stevie out. If the coin lands on tails, Shane does.
This book is told in dual timelines via three parts: part 1 is what would've happened if Drew won the coin toss, part 2 is what would've happened if Shane won, and part 3 alternates between the two timelines. As someone who loves a good dual timeline story, this form of storytelling absolutely fascinated me. Although the two timelines happened over the same period of time (August to December), the story wasn't repetitive at all. There were some events that occurred during both timelines, but there was a large degree of change between them. Seeing what changed and what stayed the same between each timeline was really interesting; this one coin toss changed so many things in the course of these people's lives, but there were also some things that stayed the same no matter what.
This story absolutely wrecked me. I'm not going to say much because it's definitely best to go in unknowing, but this entire story threw me for a loop. It was a rollercoaster from beginning to end, and there was so much happening that I just needed to keep on reading to find out what was going to happen next. I think I experienced at least three existential crises while reading this book.
Stevie, Drew, and Shane were all very complex characters, and I found it super interesting to see how their narratives changed based on that one single event that launched this story into existence. I loved the juxtaposition between Drew and Shane, and I also really liked how much their friendship bond was emphasized. Their stories were raw and messy and not at all perfect, but I genuinely loved all three main characters. All three characters are also in band (marching band romance heheh), so I enjoyed how big of a role music played in this story.
I would like to add that even though there was a love triangle, I absolutely ate it up.
Above all, this book plays into chance and the chain of cause and effect. Its message is three-fold: some things happen for a reason, other things happen without one and their happening couldn't have been changed, and the most important thing to cherish is the journey and living in the moment, not the destination (yeah yeah cheesy but it's true).
Note: Stevie is Jewish, but it's not my place to evaluate how good the Jewish representation in this book is. If anyone is a Jewish reviewer and has an issue with the rep, please do let me know.
Other Info
Standalone
13+
CW: mentions of anti-Semitic experiences, death of loved one (off-page), grief, bullying, divorce/parental abandonment (due to infidelity), car accident, vomit, choking, insomnia
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Where-All-Lands-Jennie-Wexler/dp/1250750040
Would I Recommend?
Definitely!!
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