How am I supposed to work with you this year if you’re going to be all mopey and dreary-eyed?” She passes me her makeup bag and flips down my visor mirror. “Apply, please. Let’s try to channel some of that ‘fake it till you make it’ energy when we step into that auditorium.” First, there was the pacing. At least for me, it was really slow for the first half of the book. There would be chapters for Ibby, Maggie (Mags), and Amelia (Melie) and their life and then chapters for Jordan and his. When this was still going on, I was definitely more interested in what the family was doing over Jordan and his band, but after their two worlds finally collided, the pacing really improved. I /loved/the first reactions they had to each other! Melie, their 13 year old daughter, is a typical teenage girl and is beautifully written. She's fierce and so grown up but also insecure and just a kid. My jaw ached from smiling so much at my e-reader. Especially with the teenage Amelia. She was a scene-stealer for me. Everything was life or death as a teenager, wasn’t it? I’m showing my age now, but there was one scene that was reminiscent of ‘The Geek and The Panties’ from the John Hughes 80’s classic, Sixteen Candles.

Reflect on what Olivia tells Rosaline: “So you share a last name? Big deal! Your family are the people who know you, the people who are there for you. Rose, we’re your family. Not Juliet.” Do you agree? How might this be true and how might it be complicated? Even with its light hearted tone, the novel discusses some weighty issues like homophobia, coming of age and drug addiction. This is the story of a family wading through the storm and also that of a friendship beating the odds. The characters are likable, good hearted (a rare breed indeed) even with the human frailities and . . . ya, they are going to stay with me for a very long time. I rub my eyes and sit up. It’s already light out, but that’s not too surprising, given that it’s August in Southern California. It’s also hot, and the tank top I slept in is drenched. I don’t understand why, after all these years, my parents still have not sprung for air conditioning. I laughed – Couples’ Counsellor, Maggie, had some of the BEST lines in the book. Especially when it came to *whistles*, you know what I mean, a wee bit of the horizontal mamba (other positions are available) *winks*:

So anyway, listen,” she says as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and head into the bathroom. “Ben and Olivia totally just got together. Ben told me.” Mags, Ibby, Melie, and Max, stole the show but Other Max, Nikki, Nat and Melie's friends each had their parts to play, and all felt like living breathing beings that left their mark. This is a story about family, an unconventional but solid little family and their friends who are every bit as beloved. It's a story about losing yourself and finding yourself. A story about what makes a home and finding your home. It's a story about standing up for others and standing up for yourself. It's a story about acceptance and it is wonderfully written. This is one of her theories. Charlie is full of theories. She has a theory about everything. For instance, she believes firmly that you can only change your hair once over the course of high school. Olivia chopped all hers off when she broke up with Taylor, and Charlie told her she had used up her reinvention. “I hope he was worth it,” I remember her saying.

Which is why being friends with Rob has always felt so good. He’s popular, sure—he’s probably the most popular guy in our class—but he’s also just Rob. I don’t have to pretend around him or think about what I’m going to say next. Not that I do with Charlie or Olivia, but sometimes it feels like we’re all—all three of us—in some kind of play. Like we need to get our lines right. Like the whole performance is depending on it. It is really absolute garbage sometimes being a girl. Dare I even say it... is it possible to recapture what once was if the stars align correctly? Second chances are a gift.Maybe, maybe not.” She links her arm through mine as we step into the kitchen. “But you know I always like to err on the side of caution.” From the New York Times bestselling author of One Italian Summer and In Five Years comes an intensely romantic modern recounting of the greatest love story ever told—narrated by the girl Romeo was supposed to love. It's been a while since I've read a book that I've flown through within a day or two and 'When You Were Mine' had me completed hooked from start to finish - what a brilliant story-line! Kudos to Lisa Swift for coming up with the idea. Oh, we will,” Charlie says, slinging my book bag over her shoulder. “Don’t wait up.” She blows my mom a kiss and marches me outside. I was invested in the relationships throughout the book and was routing for Mags and Ibby to find their happy ever afters but, to be honest, no matter how happy Mags and Ibby are with their respective partners, or how nicely everything was tied up in the end, for me, Mags and Ibby are freaking soul mates and that's what I loved most about this book. You don't need to be romantically attached to someone to love them fiercely. You don't have to be married or related by blood to be family.