Cori McCarthy

Grief turned Jaycee into a daredevil, but can she dare to deal with her past? On the anniversary of her dardevil brother's death, Jaycee attempts to break into Jake's favorite hideout—the petrifying ruins of an insane asylum. Joined by four classmates, each with their own brand of dysfunction, Jaycee discovers a map detailing her brother's exploration and the unfinished dares he left behind. As a tribute to Jake, Jaycee vows to complete the dares, no matter how terrifying or dangerous. What she doesn't bargain on is her eccentric band of friends who challenge her to do the unthinkable: reveal the parts of herself that she buried with her brother.

You Were Here

If you’ve read “You’ve Reached Sam” you’ll definitely like this one . Very emotional , instead of loss of a significant brother it’s the loss of a sibling 

Maria Morales 

Beatrice

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

I have SO. MUCH. LOVE. for this book!! You Were Here somehow manages to be heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, an emotional roller coaster that you just can't get off of.

Told in alternating POVs, You Were Here follows five teenagers on a quest to complete a series of dares left unfinished by Jaycee's dead brother, and find themselves in the process. I loved this storytelling method: every chapter is seen from a different character's POV - and the narrative style changes accordingly. Jaycee's chapters are all narrated in 1st person, Natalie's and Zach's in 3rd, while Mik's are expressed as graphic novels and Bishop's reproduce his urban art. For me, this was an incredibly original and engaging way to keep the story working even with 5 different points of view, which usually makes it very confusing for me to follow. 

I actually really liked getting to know all these characters, and by the end of the book I was feeling them a little bit like my friends, too. Each of them have their own problems and their own dysfunctions, from Jaycee's inability to cope with her brother's death to other characters' mental health issues or situations of family abuse. I think the author did a great job of portraying these difficulties, without trivialising or stigmatising them, and really conveys the message that ultimately, the strength to move on from difficulties can only be found within you, but having good friends and people who love you around you definitely makes this process a whole lot easier. The character development is also pretty amazing. No one stays the same after what they go through together, and they all come out of the book extremely different from how they got in.

This is a fairly intense book, and the themes it deals with are by no means light, but still there are some light-hearted moments and some great banter. And that ultimately makes a lot of sense, because that's the way life goes: for every bleak moment of sadness or outright desperation, there is always the chance of a positive, light and happy time with our loved ones. It doesn't often happen to me to find a contemporary that keeps me truly hooked, but this one I just couldn't put down. I'm certain that You Were Here will stay with me for a long time, and it's one I could actually re-read pretty soon.

For more reviews, visit Book for Thought.

On the anniversary of her daredevil brother's death, Jaycee breaks into Jake's favorite hideout--an abandoned insane asylum--where her eccentric friends challenge her to rediscover buried parts of herself.

Jessica Nottingham

Two things, before I dive into the meat of this review. One, this is the first YA Contemporary book that I've read in about a year so I'm coming into this with fresh eyes. It's entirely possible that has also biased me to love this book, so let's get that out of the way before anything else. Two, although I was given a copy of this to review back in 2016, it has taken me this long to get to it. I actually borrowed it from the library to read, and I'm not sorry in the least. Now that you know where I'm coming from with this review, let's get started.

I love Jaycee, but I also hate Jaycee. I'll start right there, because that's the kind of book that You Were Here really is. I love Jaycee because she's a broken protagonist who is falling into a pit of grief and can't figure out how to claw her way out. She's raw, brutally honest, and walled off into her own safe place. I love her because she's real. On the flip side, that's also why I hate Jaycee. She reminds me of how easy it is to fall into that pit, how easy it is to push everyone away and become a flicker of your former self, and how hard it really is to let that all go an come back to the light. It was Jaycee, and her profound loss, that really made this book hit home for me. Cori McCarthy perfectly crafted a human being with real flaws, and I soaked that in and reveled in it.

In fact, every character in this book has their own set of flaws and short comings. That's what made me feel so strongly for them. McCarthy even manages to craft a character with social anxiety, who is selectively mute, and still bring him to life on the pages. His chapters, told in graphic novel format, were actually some of my favorites. I loved being pulled in to his mind, and seeing things from his point of view. It's not easy to have a book narrated by multiple characters that isn't confusing at times. McCarthy hits that out of the park though. Every character is so rich, and well formed, that it's not hard at all to skip from the mind of Zach, to Jaycee and back again. It's normal, and wonderful.

What really impressed me, more than anything, was how easy to read this book was. It deals with some tough subjects, unabashedly so, but it does it in a way that makes you love the characters and want to be wrapped up in their lives. I found a part of myself in every one of them, and it made this a really personal and amazing read for me. Highly recommended! Just be prepared to get a bit teary eyed.

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

3.5 stars!

Jaycee is struggling with the loss of her brother, who died while doing a dangerous stunk as part of a dare. She wants answers, and she won’t settle without them. With the help of a fun group of friends, she sets out to get those answers she so desperately needs.

At first I was really loving this story quite a bit, but as it progressed I honestly found myself drifting a bit. I felt like the story sagged a bit around the middle. I can’t really pinpoint exactly what made me feel this way, but it lost the lackluster about a while. I would still definitely recommend this book, as I feel like a lot of people will REALLY enjoy it. I think this was more of a “it’s not you, it’s me” type of issue.

A story about loss, forgiveness, and making decisions, both good and bad, that will forever change your life. An emotional story that will surely pull at those heartstrings.

Side note: I really enjoyed the author’s note at the end of the book as well, where she discussed different places and aspects of the story. A definite must-read once you finish this book.

(Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

You Were Here

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