My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp (Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on March 3rd 2015
Genres: Country Life, Dating & Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse, Lifestyles, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
An Appalachian summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating in this debut novel about first loves, broken hearts, and moonshine.Luisa "Lulu" Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends. Quickly realizing they're out of their depth, they turn to Mason, a local boy who's always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything?My Best Everything is Lulu's letter to Mason--but it a love letter, an apology, or a good-bye?
“You say it was all meant to be. You and me. The way we met. Our secrets in the woods. Even the way it all exploded. It was simply a matter of fate. Maybe if you were here to tell me again, to explain it one more time, then maybe it wouldn’t feel so uncertain. But I’m going back to the beginning on my own. To see what happened and why.”
My Best Everything appeared on my radar when I was standing outside the entry at ALA this year waiting to go in… the cover caught my attention and so I pulled it up on my phone and just knew it was going to be a ‘me’ book.
The very first thing I found myself loving here was the format in which this story is told. Lulu, our main character and narrator is sharing the story of her summer via a letter she’s writing. We find out that she’s just graduated from high school and very much looking forward to escaping the small town of Dale, Virginia, she grew up in and heading off to college. But then she receives news that turns her life upside down. The savings her father had for her is gone and she isn’t going to be able to leave.
Only Lulu isn’t prepared to give up quite that easy and her letter to Mason details just how far she’s willing to go to get out.
I really loved reading about the changes Lulu feels and experiences… from her desire to stretch her wings and try things she never has, to the struggles she experiences with her family, to the friendships she treasures we get to learn about it all through her words… her explanation to the one person she never meant to spend the summer with. And what about this guy, where is he? Why a letter? I can’t tell you that!
And Mason… he’s not your typical swoon inducing guy… he’s nineteen and a high school dropout and a recovering alcoholic who’s family is known for making moonshine. But that’s not how Lulu sees him… sure at first he’s that guy, but as she gets to know him, he becomes so much more, and I honestly fell for him as Lulu told me her story, because those things… they were his past and he was doing everything he could to change his future and the relationship between these two, while it started out with a single purpose in mind, it really turned into something lovely.
Along the way we also learn about Lulu’s best friends, Roni and Bucky, and watching their relationship unfold from her point of view was also incredibly interesting, and not at all what you expect. Things just don’t always work out the way you expect they will.
I don’t know how to explain this, but this is one of those stories that will catch you off guard and worm its way into your heart. There isn’t a ton of action or suspense here, but it’s the story of a summer… one filled with so many firsts and just as many lasts, a summer spent learning who you want to be and finding people who you can trust your heart and soul with and a summer spent finding your “meant-to-be”.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
My Best Everything appeared on my radar when I was standing outside the entry at ALA this year waiting to go in… the cover caught my attention and so I pulled it up on my phone and just knew it was going to be a ‘me’ book.
The very first thing I found myself loving here was the format in which this story is told. Lulu, our main character and narrator is sharing the story of her summer via a letter she’s writing. We find out that she’s just graduated from high school and very much looking forward to escaping the small town of Dale, Virginia, she grew up in and heading off to college. But then she receives news that turns her life upside down. The savings her father had for her is gone and she isn’t going to be able to leave.
Only Lulu isn’t prepared to give up quite that easy and her letter to Mason details just how far she’s willing to go to get out.
I really loved reading about the changes Lulu feels and experiences… from her desire to stretch her wings and try things she never has, to the struggles she experiences with her family, to the friendships she treasures we get to learn about it all through her words… her explanation to the one person she never meant to spend the summer with. And what about this guy, where is he? Why a letter? I can’t tell you that!
And Mason… he’s not your typical swoon inducing guy… he’s nineteen and a high school dropout and a recovering alcoholic who’s family is known for making moonshine. But that’s not how Lulu sees him… sure at first he’s that guy, but as she gets to know him, he becomes so much more, and I honestly fell for him as Lulu told me her story, because those things… they were his past and he was doing everything he could to change his future and the relationship between these two, while it started out with a single purpose in mind, it really turned into something lovely.
Along the way we also learn about Lulu’s best friends, Roni and Bucky, and watching their relationship unfold from her point of view was also incredibly interesting, and not at all what you expect. Things just don’t always work out the way you expect they will.
I don’t know how to explain this, but this is one of those stories that will catch you off guard and worm its way into your heart. There isn’t a ton of action or suspense here, but it’s the story of a summer… one filled with so many firsts and just as many lasts, a summer spent learning who you want to be and finding people who you can trust your heart and soul with and a summer spent finding your “meant-to-be”.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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