BOOK REVIEW: I’ll Meet You There – by Heather Demetrios

Title: I’ll Meet You There
Author: Heather Demetrios
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
First published: February 3rd 2015
Finished reading: January 23rd 2016
Pages: 388

“I don’t really know what it means to move on, but lately, with Sky, I’m starting to feel like I want to because when I look at her, I don’t see you or the war or any of the shit in my head. I just see her, and it’s like suddenly I can breathe again after holding my breath for so long.”

I have seen I’ll Meet You There around a lot ever since it came out, but somehow I never wanted to pick it up before because I was afraid it was going to be a sappy romance story. I couldn’t have been more wrong. First of all, kudos to Heather Demetrios for bringing awareness to what war veterans are going through and how it can affect those around them as well. It’s an important theme that helps explain what it’s like to people who haven’t experienced it firsthand (like myself). I’ll Meet You There is full of raw emotions and especially the parts where we read John’s thoughts make this book into something special. He is a Marine who lost one of his legs and his best friend during the war in Afghanistan, now struggling to find out how to deal with all of it. This novel by Heather Demetrios has no love triangle, interesting and real characters, intriguing character development and theme, well written prose… What more can I ask for? I’m having the feeling this one will appear on my Best of 2016 list… Recommended!

Skylar Evans and her friend Chris have made a pact to make sure they will not stay in Creek View after graduating high school. It seems that practically nobody ever makes it out of the small town, and both are determined to prove otherwise. Sky has a full scholarship to an art school in San Francisco, and during her last summer in Creek View she can already taste her freedom. But everything seems to change when her mother relapses, loses her job and starts drinking again… Sky doesn’t want to leave her mom alone with her problems, but is she really ready to throw away everything she ever worked for? To make things more complicated, John Mitchell is back from the war after his leg was blown off in Afghanistan and Sky feels obliged to cheer him up. They have been working together for years at the Paradise motel, and even though they didn’t really hang out before outside the motel they slowly start building an unexpected friendship…

I have the feeling there aren’t that many fiction novels out there starring war veterans (tell me if I’m wrong!), and I’m glad Heather Demetrios chose to write about it. I’ll Meet You There is well written, full of raw and honest emotions, flawed characters you cannot help but fall in love with and just the right dose of romance. I practically flew through this book and it’s without one of my favorite reads so far this year. Definitely recommended if you like the genre!