The Geography of You and Me

Reseña Completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Por alguna u otra razón no he podido leerme los libros anteriores de Jennifer, incluso están publicados en español, pero como siempre el tiempo es mi enemigo, y es justo eso una de las principales razones por las que no perdí tiempo con este.

Lo amé, así de sencillo, lo amé.

Hizo que ir en elevador tuviera un nuevo significado, me ha dado un nuevo recuerdo prestado que le voy agradecer toda la vida. No voy a negar que, antes de leer el libro, siempre pasaba por mi cabeza (de manera aterradora) el quedarme atrapada en un elevador, este libro me ha quitado un poco al miedo a que pueda pasar de manera negativa (soy claustrofóbica) y considerar las posibilidades, sí, sé que es improbable show more que conozcas al amor de tu vida en un ascensor ¿Pero quién dijo que no es divertido saborear la idea? Sobre si te ayuda con el miedo u.u

Otro de los puntos a favor que tiene el libro es que la escritora usa mis escenarios favoritos en la historia: Nueva York, Londres, Edimburgo (mi nuevo lugar favorito), describiendo no solo los alrededores sino también los olores, la claustrofobia que sienten en siento punto Lucy y Owen. Me encantó.

Hablando de Lucy y Owen me gustó mucho su relación, si bien hay una atracción a primera vista, las circunstancias que la historia desarrolla no deja que su relación se convierta en un instalove más. Las postales, los mensajes, los celos... Me gustó sobre todo que sea ellos actúen como lo que son, adolescentes, que viven el momento, que les asusta la idea de lo que están sintiendo. No voy a negar que durante un rato lo quería golpearlos por no tener paciencia, no es que hayan hecho algo malo, es solo que... Ay, yo soy así.

Conclusión: Me encantó, me gustó mucho experimentar la narrativa de esta nueva escritora para mí, Jennifer E. Smith sin duda devoraré tus libros anteriores porque tengo la esperanza y la sospecha que quizá seas de esas escritoras que hace cameos con sus anteriores personajes. Ojalá :D show less

I've been slowly adding to my Jennifer E. Smith collection, I have 4 so far but this is only the 2nd book of hers that I've read. I really like this book, it's not your typical boy meets girl love story. It's an exploration of relationships, be it romantic or relationships with family, and how distance affects it. I enjoyed reading about the characters' travels as well, especially since I've recently been to those places. Between Lucy and Owen, I liked Lucy more because she exerted more effort imo, but Owen made it up to her towards the end. If you're looking for light romance novels that conveys life lessons and will appeal to teens or the young at heart, Smith's books is for you. Her and Kasie West are my favorites in the teen romance show more genre. show less

Lucy and Owen meet when they are trapped together in an elevator during a major blackout. They're only trapped there for a few hours, but they go on to spend the rest of the evening together on the roof of their apartment building. There's definitely something between them. . . but a week later, both leave the city and go in different directions. They keep in touch, sort of: an email here, a postcard there. But can whatever they feel for each other survive the distance?

This was okay, but I never really bought into the romance. I didn't really have a sense of why they were so attracted to each other. I felt like that first meeting, in the elevator and then on the roof, was told more than shown. Maybe if we had gotten more dialogue, I show more would have felt the connection? And both characters felt very bland to me. I've liked other books by this author, but this one left me cold. show less

How could I possibly not like a book that has one of my favorite e.e. cummings quotes at the very beginning?

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

That said, there really was much I liked about this story of discovery, of love, of learning the geography of the heart. Have not read Jennifer E Smith before, but will seek out another book or two. Sure, there were some elements that stretched my willing suspension of disbelief (mostly having to do with parents, or that subset of the population that can jet off to exotic locations at the drop of a credit card), but I really did fine with the story.

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith is realistic fiction about two people who meet in an elevator during a blackout in New York City. After moving to very different locations, they spend nine months corresponding via postcards.

There is a loneliness to this novel, as both characters have no close friends. They love their parents, but the relationships are not fulfilling. Lucy's parents are happy together and travel about, leaving Lucy to fend for herself. As a loner, she doesn't mind. She has lived in NYC for sixteen years and loves wandering the streets, finding a place to read. Her security blanket is Catcher in the Rye, a novel about a boy trying to save the world but can't. Even her "security" is the story of alienation show more and loneliness. Owen has lived his life in Pennsylvania, only moving to NYC when his mother dies in a car accident and his father gets a job to be the superintendent to Lucy's apartment building. He doesn't know where he belongs or feel any sense of home anymore. New York City is just a bunch of buildings, keeping the night sky hidden.

When the lights go out and the elevator stops, Lucy and Owen meet. After about thirty minutes, they are freed and spend the evening together, seeing NYC from the ground and from the roof of the building. They are comfortable with each other and find themselves unable to get the other out of their heads. When Lucy wakes up in the morning on the roof, Owen is gone. Owen had gone to check on his father and found him dehydrated and sick from walking home in the heat. Owen has to sit with him and nurse him until he gets better. Meanwhile, Lucy's parents worried when they couldn't reach her and send her a plane ticket to meet them in London. This is Lucy and Owen's first separation. Lucy discovers she's moving to Edinburg. Owen's father loses his job, and Owen learns they are going to drive west and look for work.

Over the next nine months, Owen and Lucy send postcards to each other because Lucy's parents have always sent her cards from their trips. They like the safety of time, as the card travels. Email is too expedient. There's a nervous fear that the person will see the other's thoughts in moments. Owen doesn't have a smart phone or a computer, which makes postcards work as well. It's a little unbelievable that the cards always find him, considering he and his father move so often.

This book has limited appeal for middle school students; this is definitely upper high school and even college interest level. The author tries to make the title work, but a few references to geography don't work. North of Beautiful does a much better job incorporating cartography and fiction, making the map references symbolic. Furthermore, as much as the two characters travel, I never felt like I was in the town. Anna and the French Kiss made me feel like I could walk through Paris--I was there while reading it. The cultures and the various cities never became characters with this novel. I realize the novel is about two characters, but they are supposed to want to travel and experience these places. They don't have enough dimension to hold these expectations. It's not a badly written book by any means; it just fails to achieve what it wants to achieve with symbolism, character development, and setting. The limited number of characters makes the characters seem like islands, giving an isolated hopelessness instead of hopefulness.

If you like novels that I call "women's literature," you'll like this novel. show less

Hmm, so interesting. I'm a bit conflicted on what to rate this.

On the one hand, yes, it does require a pretty significant suspension of disbelief to buy the central premise of this book: two teenagers, erstwhile strangers, spend one day together during a blackout, move very far apart, and still somehow manage to keep together. On the other hand, I think that Smith's whimsical, romantic voice and style somehow made it not as much of a stretch as it could have been.

As someone who was born in NYC, and spent a year abroad in Paris traveling around Europe, but has never yet managed to make it to the West Coast, I loved the settings. In general, I think Smith got the right balance of evoking setting, but not exaggerating the distinctive show more features of that place. (There were a few times, though, when she pointed out differences in Scottish or British vs. American English where I was like, oh boy. But that might just have been me, since I feel like a lot of YA books incorporate copious amounts of that, whereas it feels like most people know some of the differences pretty well, due to our global media. But again, I could be wrong.)

I am often highly opposed to two POVs in a romance, because sometimes they seem to be used to dramatize that this is TRUE LOVE and both parties feel something very deeply. But one, I liked that it was in third person POV here; and two, I actually think I liked Owen's POV more than Lucy's, though I was questioning that in the beginning. He was fleshed out really well and had a voice all his own, and I found myself falling for him as a character quite apart from how he treats Lucy, etc., whereas I feel like most YA romances are all about liking the guy, and him existing, only in relation to how he acts toward the girl. (I understand this happens in reverse in other media.) Even though Owen's inability to act and communicate (which, let's face it, Lucy also had) frustrated me at times, he was just a genuinely good, real guy.

The initial premise made the side romances a bit harder for me to dislike, and then dismiss... Practical considerations, after all. But all in all, even though it was sometimes quite strained toward the middle, the ending was so sweet. Definitely romantic. show less

So many things can go wrong when an elevator gets stuck, but so many things can go right. Just like this book.

Definitely the cutest story so far this year. I feel like I have over-used the word “cute” already this year but there is absolutely no way I could not use it to describe this book. But, I mean, there was absolutely nothing about it that wasn’t cute. The relationship between Owen and Lucy has the total “awwww” factor and there was travel and adorable nicknames.

I definitely liked The Geography of You and Me better than This is What Happy Looks Like (both by Jennifer E. Smith) because while I liked both stories, I liked this one and the characters a little more.

I’m a huge fan of the cover of this book. I love the blue show more and I think that it totally suits the tone of the book. I can’t wait to see it in stores, I think the physical copy will look amazing.

Not only did I like the main relationship, but also that of Owen and his dad. Seriously there’s a scene in there between them that almost brought me to happy-tears. No joke. Then there was all this amazing travel side to the story. Not only were there some American places featured but also others like Edinburgh and Prague.

If you are any sort of fan of Jennifer’s other books, you really do have to try this one. Or maybe you’re just looking for a cute contemporary and I totally recommend you this then too. Great for Summer, great for travelling even.

4/5 comets
A meteor shower. A great show. show less