Lisa Super

AND WE STAY meets AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES in this moving coming-of-age novel about fractured families, facing grief, and fresh starts--from debut author Lisa Super

So Glad to Meet You

Candyce Kirk

So Glad to Meet You can be a hard book to read. Daphne and Oliver lose their siblings to suicide and this really has an impact on their families. And not in the good sense either. Daphne's mother works 80 hours a week now and her father tries to heal the hurting with alcohol. Oliver's family talks about Jason everyday and how great he was. Except now they're trying to do everything the opposite way with Oliver. He doesn't feel heard.

Both characters have their own way with dealing with all of these emotions. Daphne does her best at school to get out of this town and Oliver does everything the way Jason wouldn't. It's been a few years since Jason and Emily died when Daphne finds the list of their top ten places to visit. Daphne becomes curious and contacting Oliver seems like the best idea.

It takes a bit, but they finally come together to work on this list. The places aren't easy to really do, two high school students can't just up and leave to go visit The Great Wall of China. Daphne and Oliver improvise and slowly get to know each other. I love reading about their adventures together. Each chapter switches point of view, so we can read about what they both think and feel. Being younger when Emily and Jason died, made things hard. There are a few flashbacks of memoires of their siblings and I think they fit this book well.

While working on their list they get to know themselves a bit more. I think doing these things brings them closer to their siblings, but also lets them heal. They start to realize they can be their own person and let go. So Glad to Meet You brings tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. This author did a good job with this one in my opinion. Losing someone to suicide is something I can relate to, so the thoughts and emotions are relatable.

This is really a book people need to experience without knowing too much. I honestly went into this book blind and am happy I did. The only thing that ended up bugging me was the scene where they sleep together. The scene was written in a way that didn't fit this book. Of course, relationships develop, but I don't think we would've missed anything if this scene wasn't written. All in all, I thought So Glad to Meet You was a beautiful book. A journey of healing and experiencing things for the first time.

Isabella Stocka

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS


How would you cope with the death of a loved one? Will you be able to continue your life and do not look back?

Daphne has to ask herself this question every day for the past seven years. She has to constantly think back to the day her sister and her boyfriend have committed suicide.
Emily and Jason had both depressions and stopped taking their meds. They have not left a note. They just left their families with no explanation.

One day after school she founds a box of Emily’s things that have been hidden under a floorboard which contained a bucket list.

Emily & Jason’s Top Ten
1.	The Great Wall of China
2.	Jim Morisson’s grave
3.	Climb Mount Everest
4.	Skydive
5.	The Sahara Desert
6.	Own a pair of designer shoes
7.	Niagara Falls
8.	Running with the Bulls
9.	Go To Outer Space
10.	

Daphne does not know what to do with this list and thinks about the one person in the whole world who would and she wants to share this last piece of her sister with Jason’s brother, Oliver.

Oliver receives a friends request from Daphne, who he instantly recognized as Emily’s sister. He does not accept it. He does not want to be reminded of the past and therefore does not want to have anything to do with his dead brother’s girlfriend’s sister.

However, Daphne does not give up. Jason’s school is on her way home from her own school so one day she decided to go there to confront him in person. As she was going through the school property she discovers the school church and talks to the Pastor who allows her to come here whenever she feels like needing it. Even doing her homework.
She found Oliver and showed him the list. She fulfilled her quest.

Daphne took upon the Pastors offer and started doing her homework in the church every day. When Oliver finds out he joins her and they discuss what they should do about the bucket list. They could fulfill it.

“Daphne… don’t. Don’t fall for me.”

They know they cannot travel the world and leave everyone and not graduate, so they found substitutes around L.A. to check one thing after another. Climbing Mount Everest becomes a hike to the Hollywood sign. Visiting Jim Morrison’s grave becomes visiting Marilyn Monroe’s. Visiting the Sahara becomes a trip to the Nevada desert.
Connected through a tragedy they finally found each other, another person who understands in what kind of position they are. They finally have each other to talk about their siblings and build a friendship on it.

“I won’t have a girlfriend. Because of Jason.”

“So Glad To Meet You” is showing what suicide can do to the people left behind. One person’s choice can start a butterfly effect on all the people around them. Both families deal with their loses differently. Daphne’s family stopped being one. Her mother buried herself in work while her father started drinking. Oliver’s parents unknowingly compared him to his brother and he had the weight on his shoulder to take over the family business one day.
Daphne feels alone and counts down the days until she can finally graduate and move to San Francisco to go to college. Oliver cannot wait to move to Montana for college and until then he does not allow his feelings and cope with them with one girl after another, as long she does not want to become his girlfriend. He is afraid of having one.

“Isn’t that what love is, though? Except it’s the opposite. Instead of the darkness, you don’t look past the light in the other person. You don’t focus on the bad, the weaknesses, the imperfections. You see what you want to see.”

“So Glad To Meet You” is Lisa Super debut novel. Super, who works on TV productions and loves traveling, leaves you with a happy end but also with two little questions. What did Daphne wrote under number 10? How did they choose to build their future? There are some hints, but it also leaves a bit of space for your own interpretation.

So Glad to Meet You

Reviews