Title: Boys Like You
Author: Juliana Stone
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary
Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
Release Date: May 6th 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Source: ARC received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

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One mistake.

And everything changes.

For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart –leaving her empty and broken. There’s a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her Grandma isn’t going to change that…

Nathan Everets knows heartache first-hand when a car accident leaves his best friend in a coma. And it’s his fault. He should be the one lying in the hospital. The one who will never play guitar again. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness, and a court-appointed job at the Blackwell B&B isn’t going to change that…

Captivating and hopeful, this achingly poignant novel brings together two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt – looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness.
 

Contemporary YA is at its best when it pulls you in and makes you encounter characters that stay with you long after the book is finished. I always find it hard to find these types of book because they are layered with trivial secondary characters and romances that come out of nowhere. So when I picked up Boys Like You I was hesitant because it seemed like the kind of book that could change you, and i was right. This book was amazing from start to finish and a must read for all contemporary lovers.

What I think I loved the most about this book was the dual POVs. I usually side against this type of narrative because I feel it can take away from one or both characters featured, but in Boys Like You i felt like both fo these characters deserved a say in telling their own story and honestly I think they each added to the others story. I think that if you took one away and were left with a single narrator, the story would not have had the same impact.

Nathan and Monroe were two characters that needed each other more than they thought they would. Thrust together one summer after each dealt with tragedies, made for a great relationship to read. What I think i liked the most about their relationship was that it was not love at first sight, They kind of hated each other at the beginning but then Monroe's grandmother thrust them together and bam! an amazing friendship begins, which in turn leads to a great romantic relationship. The build was amazing to read because in my opinion that is the best part. When you know that two character like each other but refuse to admit it. It makes for great tension and makes me want to keep reading.

Tragedy in YA can be done either tastefully or not, and when its done right it means that as a reader I am invested in the story because of what is happening of what has happened to the main characters. In Boys Like You we have two characters that have secrets from their past, and I loved that we learn of one very quickly but we have to wait for the second one. The mystery surrounding that last tragedy was a great motivator for me to read as quickly as possible because I wanted to know what had happened, and when it is revealed, I think I just stared at the book for a minute because I didn't know how Monroe could have dealt with something so tragic. Tragic I have to give kudos to the author because I don't think I would have cared as much for what happened to these characters if she had not made me fall in love with them over the course of the novel. I could not help but root for the two of them, and I am so glad I got to know them.