When a citywide blackout traps Lucy and Owen in their New York City apartment building elevator, the two previous strangers find they have nothing to pass the time but to talk.
And even after they’re rescued, neither of them having anyone waiting for them in their respective apartments, they find they’re drawn to each other’s company and spend the rest of the sweltering night wandering the dark streets and standing in awe of the stars in the sky – visible for once.
When the lights come back on, though, the dreamlike feeling of a comfortable conversation and magical chemistry fades to reality.
Lucy knows she needs to let her traveling parents know she’s okay, now that she has the ability to make that phone call. Owen needs to find his father and make sure he’s gotten home all right.
Before they know it, their lives are pulled apart just as swiftly as they were brought together for that memorable evening.
Lucy is summoned to join her parents abroad and Owen and his dad head out west.
Yet they can’t forget each other.
Despite the continuing travels of both, Owen sends Lucy postcards and Lucy sends Owen emails – both sporadic and punctured by “real-life” events, but momentous to both in a private way.
Is it possible they will ever reunite?
I’ve found Jennifer E. Smith to be a YA contemporary writer that I very much like. I’ve enjoyed The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This Is What Happy Looks Like, and yet again she creates a movie-like story here with The Geography of You and Me.
In that one peaceful, memorable night our two main characters experience a connection that is simple yet powerful to both – both of whom are lonely in many ways. Their connection lingers past reason and distance.
I loved that both Lucy and Owen are wonderfully normal – lacking drama. They both have quiet, unassuming pains that they have to face – causing maturity and character growth.
There’s a nice romantic tension to The Geography of You and Me that doesn’t feel forced but has a nice cinematic “meant to be” vibe.
Definitely a worthy romantic contemporary YA novel, and keeps me interested in Jennifer E. Smith.
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