tl;dr second chance romance that melts my heart
Premise
If high school seniors Siena and Patrick were a superlative, they'd be the Couple Most Likely to Marry. They've been dating for three solid years, and everyone agrees they're perfect for each other. But with college on the horizon, Siena begins to wonder whether staying together is the best idea. Does she really want to be tied down during possibly the most transformative years of her life? So she makes a decision to break up with Patrick, convincing herself it's for the best. Before she can say the words, though, he beats her to the punch: his family is moving out of state. Caught off guard by the news, Siena agrees to stay with Patrick, believing their relationship will naturally fizzle out with time and distance. But over a series of visits throughout the school year, Siena begins to see a different side of Patrick--one that has her falling in love with him all over again.
Rating
4.5/5 stars
Review
“you're not a tether to home. home is a tether to you”
it took me 3 hours to fall completely in love with this book
feeling especially lonely but whatever yk
y'all. this is a whole second chance romance without the initial breakup. the whole process of them learning each other again, experiencing that "new" feeling, and falling for each other all over again is so just... refreshing. and mature of them. they're the couple that has been together for so long that you think they'll get married and their relationship is perfectly mature and perfect -- while their relationship was definitely not perfect at the beginning of the novel, it was so great seeing them both mature as time went on. COMMUNICATION YALL.
they both grow a lot as individuals over the course of the novel: siena settles into being her own person and accepts not having all the pieces set out right here and now; patrick more readily introduces change into his life and appreciates the ways their relationship has shifted over time. the two of them, by the end, communicate so freely and it was really, really nice to see.
also, they're just so adorable and pure and UGH i was blushing y'all. they have such a sweet relationship together and ugh MY LOVES.
i must say that part of the reason why this book hit so hard for me was because i (surprise) have had a relationship kind of similar to them. not necessarily in situation, but i find that I'm super similar to siena. i thrive in that comfortability, but i also want to narrow down my purpose. okay, well, maybe the relationship was partially similar in situation. the whole falling back in love with someone part (without actually breaking up) rly got me alsjdflasjdlkj. recovering that "new" feeling and getting those butterflies again just rly hits. i just.. communication. yeah. communication.
i think my only critique was that the mini-conflicts within the relationship seemed a bit repetitive -- the book took place over a few different time periods/visits, and some of the visits kind of felt the same lol
but this book is actually so good
Other Info
Standalone (releases April 19 - thank you to Penguin Young Readers and NetGalley for an e-ARC)
14+
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Without-You-Austin-Siegemund-Broka/dp/0593326873
Would I Recommend?
100%
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