Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Expected Publication: June 23, 2015

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: via NetGalley

Challenge: 2015 NG/EW

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart.

He’d thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

My Thoughts

I just loved and adored this book! While the subject matter –kidnapping- might seem grim this read isn’t all about that. It focuses on the friendships and relationships that were put on hold for 10 years until the day Oliver is found and returns. We get to see and hear both sides of the outcome when Oliver is returned to his mother. Everyone seems to think that everything will get back to normal but to Oliver these people are the strangers. He comes back to a mother whom he thought abandoned him and a stepfather and twin sisters. He also has friends who have been waiting for him especially his best friend Emmy. She has been waiting and hoping that her friend would come back one day and never lost hope.

Oliver isn’t the only one who has suffered during his kidnapping. Emmy has been subjected to her parents being overbearing and fearing that she will be kidnapped as well. So what is a girl to do? Lie of course. However she lies about the simplest thing such as surfing and applying to college. When Oliver comes back there are a few bumps but their friendship comes back seamlessly. And of course friendship soon turns to romance, they are two pieces that just click together time nor could distance change that.

While the book is about Emmy and Oliver I love that we get the whole backstory of his kidnapping. I started out feeling one way about his father and by the end my opinion did change a bit. Loved that this read is just easy breezy and I mean that as a compliment. This is one of those books that you simply don’t want to stop reading. It’s cute funny and one I highly recommend to anyone who wants and needs a good read.