― Morgan Matson, Since You’ve Been Gone
Publication Date: 2014
The Pre-Sloane Emily didn’t go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn’t do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.
But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just… disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try… unless they could lead back to her best friend.
Apple Picking at Night? Okay, easy enough.
Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not?
Kiss a Stranger? Wait… what?
Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?
Go Skinny Dipping? Um…
2. Thankfully, the book picks up. In the beginning, I was just not into it. It was… whatever, and if I didn’t finish it, I wouldn’t have thought about it again. However, as Emily makes more friends, becomes more brave, and pushes through more challenges, I started to really cheer for her. I began really connecting to her character and to her friends, and my heart beamed with pride watching her grow.
3. It ended so beautifully. This book is a champion of love and of friendships. By the end of the novel, I was happy, content, and impressed. Morgan Matson really wrapped up the novel well, and if you’re the type of person who hates books with unresolved endings, this novel will satisfy you.
After a slow start, this novel really picked up, and it ended beautifully. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light and friendly read.
“All the stuff you can’t wait to get away from, until it’s not there anymore, and then you miss it like crazy.”
“This felt like the way you get nervous right before something exciting happens-the moment when you’re balanced on the top of the roller coaster, the hush before the surprise party, the second after the diving board but before the water, when you can close your eyes and imagine, for just a second, that you’re flying. The feeling that good things were coming, almost here, any moment now.”
“I don’t think you have to do something so big to be brave. And it’s the little things that are harder anyway.”
“I was still a little amazed that this was happening. That this, the thing that had seemed so impossible, so terrifying, so utterly beyond me, was happening. I was having fun. And that I was the one who made it happen. “I did it,” I said out loud, sendind my voice up to the stars above me, not really caring if the others heard me.”
