You Were Here

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I knew once I saw You Were Here - it would be something I loved. But I didn't expect to be blown away by its honesty & amazing characters that pulled on the heart-strings.

You Were Here is told from the POV of all five characters, Jaycee, Natalie, Zach, Bishop and Mik. What makes it unique was the formatting. It's blend of first person, third person, art (like graffiti) and a graphic novel. It was brilliant for many reasons - but I have to point out how flawless it all flowed. A lot of times with multiple POVs, they can blend together; never really connecting with any of the characters. So not only did the unique formatting help with that, Cori writes ALL of her characters with unique voices. It was just, brilliant.

You Were Here touches on many heavy and emotion subjects. Death. Addiction. Grief. Heartbreak. Each character is flawed; dealing with their own issues when they all come together on the anniversary of Jake's death. It was fascinating how their lives intertwined, and although the summer spent together was not the easiest for them all, the support and friendship helped each one heal in their own way, and move on.

Of all the characters, Jaycee was my favorite. She is still grieving for her brother Jake, and makes it her mission to complete the dares he did before his death. Her brute honesty made for some harsh realities for some of the characters, but I loved it about her. She tells it like it is. Quite honestly, she was broken. She hadn't been living since her brother's death and seeing her break out of that grief, face her fears was hard at times. Add in her conflicting feelings with Mik, and this girl was a mess.

Mik was one of Jake's friends from before. There are some secrets revolving around him and the night Jake died, and it was all hard for Jaycee to cope with. He's shy, even being a select mute, and because of his feelings for Jaycee, didn't talk to HER much. Which in turn frustrated her. Anyway, it was hard for Jaycee to see the man Mik had become, not just he boy he was, and it seemed at every turn she was hurting him. Some of it, intentional because she didn't understand her feelings for him and didn't know HOW to handle it. In any case, I adored them and ship it! But Mik's constant support, patience and love for her just.. makes me happy!

Natalie and Zach are another hot mess. Natalie was Jaycee's best friend before Jake's death and Zach is her on again off again boyfriend. These two are the perfect examples of co-dependency. Natalie has this... "I am better than you" attitude and her condescending remarks frustrated me on many levels. She too, is holding secrets of her own and we don't really get WHY she pushed Jaycee away and how Jake's death affected her. Zach has family issues that we get an up close look at, and his fears of being left behind and alone drive his him to his drinking, and his dependency on Natalie. You can tell they DO love each other, but man. Bishop was a more behind the scenes character to me. He is dealing with heartbreak over a girl and is preparing to leave for college over the summer but was somehow always SEPARATE in my mind. Not saying he doesn't play a part - because he does - but not has hard and heavy as the others.

Again, these characters are FLAWED.

I could go on and on about these characters, especially Jaycee and Mik. Cori did an amazing job handling the multiple heavy subjects. The building and rekindling of friendships has a HUGE impact on all of us, and she brings that beautiful journey to life with these characters. It's an emotional, powerful book that I recommend to everyone.

I received this book for free from The Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.