BOOK REVIEW: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared. Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart. Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

What a cute, adorable, wonderful book! I seriously enjoyed reading every single glorious word.

Okay, so Oliver's dad had kidnapped him when he was seven and he wasn't found until he was seventeen. This changed EVERYONE. First, Emmy's parents became super overprotective. I mean, I really didn't understand why they were being quite so overprotective since it wasn't like a stranger had kidnapped Oliver, but whatever. They're parents, so the went nuts. Oliver's mom never stopped hoping for him to come home. She got married and had more children (a pair of freakishly adorable twins), but she still wanted Oliver. 

First of all, I adored every single character. Yes, Emmy and Oliver were cute and completely adorable. But I also loved their friends, Caro and Drew. They were so supportive and loyal and so funny. Actually, the whole book was funny. The banter between Caro, Drew, Emmy and Oliver was off the charts. I loved how sarcastic they were and how they all just got each other. When Oliver said how much he missed being normal and hanging out with friends while he was gone, I teared up a little. I mean, they were just being normal teenagers, but he missed it. He missed everything. 

I loved how real everything was when Oliver got back. I mean, everyone kind of expected everything to just go back to normal when he was found, but things don't work that way. Oliver had so many mixed emotions. I like that this author showed how split Oliver was between loving his dad and hating him for what he put everyone through. And then he didn't know how he was supposed to react with his mom either. He spent years thinking that his mom had left him and so he hated her. But now he let like he was supposed to just cut that off and hate his dad instead. God, I felt for him so much. 

I also loved Emmy's parents and Oliver's mom. Yes, they made mistakes but they were so real and they were THERE, unlike other YA novels. Emmy's parents had to learn to loosen the leash just a bit on Emmy and Oliver's mom needed to find a way to actually talk with her son. I loved everything about it.

And then there was the romance . . . . ahhh, swoon. There were no love triangles. There was no insta-love. There was just a pure friendship where Emmy and Oliver had to get to know each other all over again and that turned into something more. There was so much chemistry and heat and adorableness. I loved both of them so much.

Gah, I really can't think of a single thing that I would change about this book. It was just so perfect. 

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one!!!!