Friday 3 March 2017

Review: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

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Review

“The more you start to love someone, the more you ache when they’re gone, and maybe it’s that middle ground that hurts the most, when you can see them and still not feel like you’re near enough.”

Wow. This was such an emotional and moving story, and nothing like I had thought it would be. This was definitely not a cute love story, at least not entirely focused on romance, which was the first impression I got when I read the blurb. But this book was so much better! Emmy and Oliver just became one of my top favorite contemporary reads!!

I had no idea about the book, especially when the title gives no hint and even the blurb doesn't clear anything. The characters in this story deals with some very heave and emotional situations, but despite that, the author managed to keep the scenes light with cute and funny moments between the main characters. We are being told that Oliver, Emmy's childhood best friend was kidnapped by his father and then never came back. But then Oliver returns one day and everything changes after that.

Emmy, who never forgot Oliver and always kept waiting for him to come back, comes to a realization that a lot of things has changed over these years, and with that, even Oliver has changed. She has to adjust a lot with the new changes in her life, with having to deal with Oliver and her parents, who always worry about her, ever since Oliver disappeared.

While Emmy and Oliver are getting to know each other again, the troubles with Emmy's parents keeps on getting more and more serious. Her parents were so paranoid, it was even annoying sometimes that they wouldn't let her do something just because they thought it wasn't safe for her. And while doing that, they didn't know that they were pushing her away with all the restrictions instead of understanding her. I felt really bad for Emmy in many parts, but at some point I could also see why her parents were like that. Seeing a child getting kidnapped is not a thing you forget easily, especially not when it's someone close to you, and Oliver's disappearance changed many people's lives.

It was a really emotional story, with the characters dealing with their past, accepting the new change in their lives (in this case, it was Oliver), and also living with a guilt that he was the reason why all that happened when actually it wasn't really his fault. Oliver's situation was the worst, and it was so sad to see him struggle to fit in this new life, when he was still trying to figure out what was right and what was wrong. My heart ached for Oliver whenever he would get emotional over his father, knowing that his father had kidnapped him, but still couldn't erase all those years he's been living with him. There was always a conflict between his heart and mind, but I was really glad that Emmy was with him the entire time.

There's not a lot of romance, to be honest. It's more about friendships, old love, family, and accepting changes. You might not be able to see any huge plot in this story, but the emotions? They're real, the raw emotions between the main characters will touch your heart. This entire story was so beautiful, even though it did made me teary in a lot of scenes, but this book was so worth it.

Even the characters in this book are very relatable. With Emmy, Oliver, and their best friends, it was one amazing group of characters. I also adored their friendship with each other, how they would stick with each other in all the situations, and even though their friendships had few ups and downs, they always talked it through and tried to solve the issues. And even their fights were adorable!!

It was such a great read, with a lot of emotional moments, but more of funny and cute scenes which I really enjoyed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a nice contemporary romance.

2 comments:

  1. I completely agree! This was a really cute and well-written story and I'm so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

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  2. Thank you! And yes, this book is super adorable! :)

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