Book Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Sometimes, you just know that you will enjoy reading a book. That’s what happened to me with this one – Love at first page. The story starts almost a year after Aaron’s death, Paige’s boyfriend of only two months and whose absence has left such an indelible mark on her. So, she decides to make a list of things she wants to accomplish in her junior year – simple things like going to a party or joining a school club or even trying to move on by dating her sixth grade crush Ryan.

This book has one of the best group of girlfriends I have ever read about. Paige, Tessa, Kayleigh and Morgan are loving, caring and always there for each other. Each of their characters is very uniquely written with their own quirks and strengths and they are amazing together. They have their own lives too and personalities outside of the group dynamic which makes us get to know and love them both individually and together. I loved their conversations, their fights, their silences – everything that reminded me of my own girl gang.

Then, we come to Max, Ryan’s cousin whom Paige initially befriends in the hope of getting close to Ryan. But what follows is a great friendship. Max is not your school heartthrob kinda guy, but the cute adorable dork who is awesome if you take the time to get to know him better. Max and Paige bond over their love for books, binge watching Firefly, discovering the love for Indiana Jones and many such little things. I absolutely fell in love with him during his first argument with Paige about the better qualities of Jane and Bingley over Elizabeth and Darcy. I mean…… how can you NOT love a guy who can quote Austen and finds the bookstore a perfect hangout place for the weekend 😍😍😍😍

Though Max and Paige fall for each other towards the latter half of the book, this is still more about their friendship than romance. This book is also about Paige finding herself through her grief, not feeling guilty about feeling happy after losing someone, making new friends and forging connections, understanding that her parents need to overcome problems too.. and ultimately, as her Grandma says, it’s about living your life and loving extra even if it hurts extra too.

I would recommend this book to everyone because it’s full of great characters and special moments and I assure you that you will find someone or something to relate to. It definitely made me miss my wonderful group of friends.

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️