Take Me with You When You Go

** spoiler alert ** i personally could never leave my little sister in a situation like that but that's me 😬 i'm glad that ezra made it through though

“It’s wonderful when someone else sees you, the real you, but—and this may be the most profound thing I’ve ever thought or said—maybe the important thing is seeing yourself.”

Excellent A heartbreaking but hopeful young adult read. Two siblings are in an abusive home and trying to find a way out. But they're really finding a way back to each other.

4.5

I liked the book just fine until the plot twist. It didn't do anything for me and I am really sad because I really liked the beginning of the book. Also, the characters just felt kinda flat? It felt like they kept repeating the same sentences over and over again. A little tiring to be honest. 2.5 stars

i have such an aversion to email-only stories so that's the -1, but the actual story and writing were both excellent

*finished at 00:11 so officially on 2 dec* Wow. Unique, beautiful, good characters, writing style was so great, and the story was haunting, infuriating, sad and hopeful. Might be one of my favorites of the year!

I loved this book! The cover art is amazing, and the plot and subjects that this book talks about are too. It makes me want to check on every person I see and ask how their lives are at home, just in case they need any help. At first, I was worried that the book would be less interesting because it's all written in emails, but it actually makes it a little more raw and interesting because it's deep conversations and important discussions between a brother and sister.

I wanted to take some time to sit with this book before writing this review, but I received an eARC in exchange for a review and the book is released at the end of the month so I am pressed for time. So, as a disclaimer, I will say that these are my fresh undeveloped thoughts, written an hour or so after finishing reading. Take Me With You When You Go is described as a story of hope, siblinghood, and finding your home in the people who matter most, so I think I will break this review down into those categories. Siblinghood The thing that I love about this book is that it is a sibling story above anything else. Bea has run away from her broken home, leaving behind only a secret email address to communicate with Ezra, her younger brother. The siblings have always had each other for solace when their home doesn’t feel safe, and that doesn’t change. We learn about the entirety of their relationship from these emails, starting from the day Bea disappears. They exchange memories from growing up, more recent events that triggered Bea to leave, and she eventually finds out about events that occurred before Ezra was even born. To me, a lot of this background information felt forced as I was caught up in what would realistically be written in an email. I understand why the authors chose this format as it makes the most logistical sense for the plot, but the infodumping written beneath an email address didn’t really work for me personally and quickly felt tiresome. It also removes a lot of the emotion from the moments that are being described as the characters are looking back on them with less connection. It made the side characters extremely disconnected from the story and two dimensional. I wanted to be with the characters rather than dwelling in their memories. This point is specifically about Ezra rather than the theme of siblinghood but I’ve already committed to this format and don’t know where else to put it. I like that Ezra’s sexuality isn’t the focal point of the book. (view spoiler)[He’s gay, and there’s moments where he reflects on his first kiss and the realisation about his sexuality, and the book shows his relationship with his boyfriend, but the focus still remains on the siblings’ relationship and their home. (hide spoiler)] Finding Your Home This book is an incredibly raw and honest portrait of parental abuse inflicted on the lives of the people they were supposed to keep safe. When Bea disappears, Ezra is left behind to deal with the fallout in addition to the regular emotional abuse he is experiencing. As the abuse becomes increasingly physical, Ezra seeks an escape through Joe – Bea’s ex(?) boyfriend who is worried about her – and his boyfriend Terrence, who I believe is black and Christian. This book explores the dynamics of these new homes very well: (view spoiler)[refuge with someone who is almost doing it as a favour to someone they love, and safety with someone who is your found family. There’s also some scenes I adore where Terrence has to admit that Ezra is more than just his ‘special friend’, and how Ezra has to adapt to being part of Terrence’s family. (hide spoiler)] Hope This is the part that has left me with so many mixed feelings about this book. In my opinion, there is very little hope until the final few pages when the book feels as if it has reached its conclusion. I almost wanted an epilogue that carried out some of the promises written in the final emails, but I don’t think it would make sense written in this format. This lack of hope throughout the book dulled the impact of the emotional scenes: it’s very easy to become either overwhelmed or underwhelmed (or, in my case, both) with emotional scenes when they’re constant and there’s no lighter scenes to contrast or complement them. In many places, it felt like the story was dragging and wasn’t really going anywhere. The plot twists and big reveals and climaxes all felt the same as the siblings recounting the bland parts of their day. Overall, I would give this book a 3.5 star rating. There were a lot of moments that caught my attention, but they were eventually overshadowed by a tiresome format and darkness that completely swallowed up the light. Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)

trigger warning: parental abuse/neglect Bea runs away leaving her younger brother behind at home with their neglectful mother and abusive step-father. Bea leaves Ezra an email where they can secretly communicate. Through their emails we learn about Bea's reason for running away and how Ezra gets through his days without Bea. I was very excited when I first learned about this book. Two of my favorite authors writing a book together? Dreams do come true! The story is told through letters (emails to be exact) and it worked very well for me. I thought it made the story more personal and engaging. Bea seems selfish at first but she really cares for Ezra so much and will do anything for him. Ezra is an incredible character as well as his very supportive boyfriend, Terrence. I liked the sibling relationship in this book. It's not perfect but it's real and very relatable. I also liked the surprising twists though the unexpected romance was unnecessary in my opinion. Overall, this is a very touching and heartfelt story.

trigger warning: parental abuse/neglect Bea runs away leaving her younger brother behind at home with their neglectful mother and abusive step-father. Bea leaves Ezra an email where they can secretly communicate. Through their emails we learn about Bea's reason for running away and how Ezra gets through his days without Bea. I was very excited when I first learned about this book. Two of my favorite authors writing a book together? Dreams do come true! The story is told through letters (emails to be exact) and it worked very well for me. I thought it made the story more personal and engaging. Bea seems selfish at first but she really cares for Ezra so much and will do anything for him. Ezra is an incredible character as well as his very supportive boyfriend, Terrence. I liked the sibling relationship in this book. It's not perfect but it's real and very relatable. I also liked the surprising twists though the unexpected romance was unnecessary in my opinion. Overall, this is a very touching and heartfelt story. Disclaimer: Thanks to PRH and the author for providing a free digital review copy via NetGalley. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.