Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson {Goodreads}
Published by Simon & Schuster in 2014
Hardback edition; 449 pages {BookDepository}
Emily and
Sloane are best friends. Inseparable. Yet, when the summer kicks off Emily is
up for a very unpleasant surprise: Sloane is missing. She left without a note,
without a call and Emily doesn’t know why. One day, however, her mother tells
her there is a letter and within, a list containing 13 missions that Sloane
wants Emily to complete. She doesn’t know how she’s gonna do it because while some
of them are very easy (like breaking something), others are a bit more
complicated (did someone say skinny-dipping?). Despite all that Emily feels the
need to complete the list since she believes will be the only way to get her
best friend back.
Having
previously read Amy & Roger’s Epic
Detour by Morgan Matson and absolutely loved it, I had to pick Since You’ve Been Gone and although it
wasn’t as good I still enjoyed it, especially the second half of the novel.
Friendships
can be strong and are important in someone’s life. We need friends around to
help as out along the way, to have someone to talk to, to be there for us. But
one thing is having a friendship where both voices are heard and another thing
entirely is shutting down your own voice for the sake of another person. That
is the feeling I got reading about Emily and Sloane’s friendship and I didn’t
like it. It wasn’t healthy.
I get
perfectly well that Emily is a shy girl and Sloane’s outgoing personality
completely amazes her but everything has its own limits. Through the first half
of the novel the only thing I kept reading was how amazing Sloane is, how she
can do anything and how Emily is incapable of stop comparing both of them,
their actions, every single time. It’s tiring to be honest. I didn’t feel
Emily, I didn’t see her. For me, she had no personality. However, all this is
necessary to understand the beauty within the story, within the message.
As the
story progresses, Emily starts finding her own voice and realising how little
she knows herself and how much she’s capable of doing and although insane,
thanks to Sloane’s list Emily is able to make new friends and live new
experiences and it’s exactly this combination of Emily’s past and what her
future holds what makes this story so special. She never forgets Sloane but she
learns to live without her every second of the day.
Since You’ve Been Gone is about self-discovery,
self-acceptance and be willing to dare. All the characters offer something to
the story and it’s very compelling. As I said this is my second Matson book and
she’s probably the only contemporary author whose books I will auto-buy. She
knows how to deliver and for me, Since
You’ve Been Gone was no exception despite the beginning which although frustrating
at times, its purpose I completely understood. I needed a plain Emily to see
how much she was capable of and by the time I was done with the story, I found
myself unwilling to say good-bye and asking for more.
My Rating:
How do you imagine your perfect summer?