You Are My Only Review

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Title: You Are My Only
Author: Beth Kephart
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Publish Date: October 25, 2011
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 256
Source: Publisher

Emmy Rane is married at nineteen, a mother by twenty. Trapped in a life with a husband she no longer loves, Baby is her only joy. Then one sunny day in September, Emmy takes a few fateful steps away from her baby and returns to find her missing. All that is left behind is a yellow sock.

Fourteen years later, Sophie, a homeschooled, reclusive teenage girl is forced to move frequently and abruptly from place to place, perpetually running from what her mother calls the "No Good." One afternoon, Sophie breaks the rules, ventures out, and meets Joey and his two aunts. It is this loving family that gives Sophie the courage to look into her past. What she discovers changes her world forever. . . .
Emmy had a difficult life. She was a young bride, a young mother and even younger to lose a child. Emmy didn't just lose her child though. Baby was stolen from her front yard in a single instant when she left her for just a moment. Losing Baby meant losing herself, and in losing herself, she lost it all. Sophie is a young teenager with the world on her shoulders. Her mother is world-weary and rigid in her rules. Sophie knows to listen and to obey, but when she meets Joey, she finds that friendship might be more important than essays on Kepler. But Sophie's mother has a secret that spans Sophie's entire life, and uncovering it will tear their worlds wide open.

When I read the premise for You Are My Only, I was sold in an instant. Dark and moody, the synopsis is haunting and draws the reader in. Veteran author, Beth Kephart, is no stranger to issue-driven books. Written in a fantastic and unique writing style, You Are My Only manages to combine illustrative descriptiveness with sparse and wordless pages. By intertwining the two, the prose is rich and balanced, haunting and riveting; all the while drawing the reader into a world where lies are the very foundation of the characters' worlds. You Are My Only doesn't shy away from pain, but rather sings the story of two lost souls whose pain fuels the fire of self-discovery.

I completely mean what I say when I say the writing of You Are My Only was beautiful. That said however, I struggled a bit with this one. I think the writing style was brilliant, but my main issue was the alternating chapters between Sophie and Emmy. Their voices were almost identical, which I could reconcile with because of the connection between the characters, but I felt a bit of a disconnect between the two because of the different time periods between Emmy and Sophie. It felt like it was happening at the same time, and yet it couldn't have been. I loved that You Are My Only dove right into the action from page one with Emmy losing Baby, but I struggled after that, as the plot sped along at the pace of a runaway train. I had a hard time getting into her head, and when Sophie was thrown into the mix, balancing the two was a bit tedious. I think that the secondary characters in You Are My Only stole the show, too. Arlen, Aunt Cloris, Aunt Helen and even Sophie's mother were more well-defined than they were. The ending was beautiful, haunting and poetic but, yet again, a little too rushed. Honestly, my opinion is that this book could have been perfection had it been fleshed out a bit more because it had all the right elements.

Despite my issues with the book, You Are My Only was a really good read. It was fast, and it had a writing style that will stick with me. I give it a 3 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to all fans of the YA and adult genres, especially to those who enjoy contemporary fiction and issue books.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

18 comments:

  1. Dark and moody and rich descriptive prose all work for me. Too bad the character connection was strained. While I do enjoy a strong contemporary novel, not sure this one is for me, but your review has me straddling the fence and wondering if I might need to check this out for myself.

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  2. I tried and I had a hard time clicking with the writing too. Great honest review.

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  3. That chapter thing between those two, that I do not know about. That is kind of what made my last book a bit..lacking

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  4. Aww, I had high hopes for this one. Looks like everyone thought it was a bit lacking. Thanks for the honest review, Melissa, I doubt I'll be going for it now. I have more books on my plate anywho!

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  5. I think I'll wait on this one, I love the premise and I'm always up for a story that's beautifully written, but I like to fully connect to my main characters. If you found that a touch difficult, I know I will too. Outstanding review as always:)

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  6. Great honest review, Melissa! I had a hard time differentiating between Sophie and Emmy too, but the writing was definitely gorgeous.

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  7. This sounds like almost too dark of a premise for me. Although maybe not. It's too bad the characters' voices weren't distinctive enough.

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  8. I think I'll wait to read this one. I appreciate great writing and the premise grabbed my attention right away, but I'm a bit hesitant due to the disconnected and similar voices. Great honest review, Melissa!

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  9. What a fantastic review! The way you described things totally makes sense. The switch between the narration and the way it was done does sound a bit confusing and would mess up the character connection. Still sounds like a great read that I'll have to give a try one day.

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  10. I almost picked this one up, but I didn't think I could deal with the emotional issues inside. Kidnapped babies is like my number one fear. I check the doors at least once in the middle of the night just to make sure my kiddos are safe. I'm glad to hear that you did enjoy it, but I think its one I'll not delve into. Really though, its just because I have issues. LOL! :D Love this review Melissa, you always let me see exactly what I need to.

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  11. Lovely review Melissa- I tried reading this one as well and only made it half way. I had a really hard time with it, I think its a for sure DNF but maybe Ill try again later.....

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  12. Sounds real emotional. I do like those books that deal with real issues. Thanks for the review!

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  13. The concept and writing sound very alluring! I was planning to skip this one, but I'm rethinking that now. Despite your issues with it, You Are My Only still sounds amazing. :) Thanks for the review, Melissa!

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  14. Alternating POVs don't always work for me either. It takes a talented author to distinguish and develop their voices separately. Too bad this one didn't quite work for you!

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  15. I do love beautifully written books but, if you're going to have alternate POV's, the voices need to be different enough to justify the move. Otherwise, it should just be written in third omniscient (or whatever). This is on the list but...midlist. Thanks for the review!

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  16. Oh I don't know. Maybe. Alternate POV's, especially if they are so similar, don't work for me. Thanks for a great review, though!

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  17. I'll have to check this one out despite the struggles you had. It is tricky when the alternating voices are too similar to easily tell apart. It sounds dark though and good.

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  18. Great Review! I'd read this one, but I think I already know two much what happens and I don't think I can read a story like this. I think it's a fear every mother has at the back of her mind and being a mother, I haven't lost that fear.

    Heather

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