Hi again. So yes, I’m aware it’s already halfway through March and I never wrote an entry for February. Things have been, a bit anxiety-inducing lately, and when my anxiety flares up I am either extremely motivated to do anything and everything on my to-do list, or extremely unmotivated and never get anything done. With all the chaos going on in the world right now, it’s been the latter, so please bear with me as I take it one day at a time. I have been able to get some reading done, as a sort of escape from reality, so there might be an increase in the number of book reviews I post in the next few months. Sorry, but not really.
This post is to talk about my favorite book that I read in the month of February. I reread a bunch of old favorites last month, so I decided to write about my favorite new read. February’s book was Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas. I had heard Julie (from the YouTube channel Pages and Pens) talk about this book in a TBR for a recent round of Contemporary-a-thon — a week-long readathon hosted by Julie and several other booktubers focused on reading books in the contemporary genre. I picked up the book on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble and found the premise and execution extremely interesting and well done. So without further ado, what is it about?
Ollie is allergic to electricity — every time he’s near it, he’s prone to debilitating seizures. Moritz has an electronic pacemaker — without it, his weak heart would stop beating altogether. The two form an extremely unlikely friendship through written communication — letters passed between a German small town and a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Since they can never meet, and are both hermits of their own kind, Ollie and Moritz help each other work through problems from their past, confront issues in the present, and develop hope for the future.
I’ve realized that I often enjoy books with dual POV, or multiple points of view, and I was really drawn in by this synopsis. I was interested to see how these vastly different individuals would interact and form an unlikely friendship. I think Leah Thomas did an excellent job with developing the characters of Ollie and Moritz, and how she was able to craft such distinct voices for each of their respective chapters. While some might critique the book with the claim that the boys narrating their day to day actions to each other at times might seem extraneous, I found it necessary since, as the title suggests, these two can never meet in real life, so their only form of communication (i.e. discussing events of the past and the present with the other) is through these letters. I read another book in February that involved two boys writing letters to each other, but in that story the two main characters go to the same school and interacted on a daily basis, which made them recounting events that had occurred as unnecessary in my opinion. I grew attached to Ollie and Moritz, felt (for the most part) their feelings and reactions to certain situations was realistic, and felt the pace at which Leah Thomas revealed their pasts was great. It left me intrigued and wanting more at the end of each letter. There is a sequel currently out, titled Nowhere Near You, and after the way this book ended I’m interested to see where the next book picks up.
And there you have it, the best book I picked up in February. Well, the best new book at least — I reread my favorite series, How to Be (by T.J. Klune), and I could spend another blog post specifically dedicated to those, but I’ll save that for a different day. I’ve already picked up some great books in March, so I’ll be interested to see which one takes the cake as my favorite.
Places to find Because You’ll Never Meet Me:
Amazon
Goodreads
Bloomsbury
Leah Thomas’ Instagram
Thoughts About Things 