Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

I was halfway through the book and thought it would never end. I heard myself singing the silly song, The Song That Doesn't End except I was reworking the lyrics into "The Book that Doesn't End..." I didn't like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Marshall when he wasn't high or drunk. None of the high school scenes seemed realistic. For goodness sake, hosting dance committee planning meetings at your house and caring about the decorations so emphatically. Who does that? None of the teenagers I know. Seriously one page from setting the book aside as a DNF I kept reading for lack of anything else to read when things shifted.

But wait. I get ahead of myself. Here is the summary of the book from Goodreads:

Waverly Camdenmar spends her nights running until she can’t even think. Then the sun comes up, life goes on, and Waverly goes back to her perfectly hateful best friend, her perfectly dull classes, and the tiny, nagging suspicion that there’s more to life than student council and GPAs.

Marshall Holt is a loser. He drinks on school nights and gets stoned in the park. He is at risk of not graduating, he does not care, he is no one. He is not even close to being in Waverly’s world.

But then one night Waverly falls asleep and dreams herself into Marshall’s bedroom—and when the sun comes up, nothing in her life can ever be the same. In Waverly’s dreams, the rules have changed. But in her days, she’ll have to decide if it’s worth losing everything for a boy who barely exists.

See why I was interested in the book in the first place? A girl entering a boy's life via a dream field of sorts. And it is a reverse "Pretty in Pink" story. The boy is from the wrong side of life. The girl has everything yet is attracted to him, but can't possibly let anyone know for fear of losing the life she knows. I ended up really liking the second half of the book, especially the way the characters grew and came to understand things about themselves.

So let me just say this. Places No One Knows is not a good book to piddle around with. Read it fast, in one or two sittings and you will catch the magic. Read it slowly and you will be tortured. I will be purchasing this book for my library for those incurably romantic types. I bet they will love it. Who doesn't like a good girl catches bad boy story (or was it a bad girl caught by a kind boy)?

Now, do I think the book is Printz-worthy? No, but then neither are 99% of books so that doesn't detract from it much. Read it if you are looking for a good romance this summer.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Source: checked out from the public library

2017 Printz Award Contenders

19 / 35 books. 54% done!