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knwaites's review
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
pawsomereads2's review against another edition
4.0
4.5⭐️
This book promised to be a YA This Is Us in literary form and it definitely delivered. Some Other Now was an absolute emotional rollercoaster and I was happy to be along for the ride. You’ll get all the feels from this captivating read about family, both found and lost.
The story follows Jessi Rumfield, a teen who has always felt closer to Mel Cohen than to her own mom, who spent most of Jessi’s childhood deep in depression that led her to be absent from her daughter’s life. Mel and her sons, Rowan and Luke, became the closest thing to family that Jessi ever knew. After Mel was diagnosed with a terminal illness they called the Big Bad and Rowan began to pull away from his best friend Jessi, nothing was the same again. Now it’s Jessi’s summer after high school graduation, and Luke has turned up after months of silence, asking Jessi to do him a favor: pretend to be his girlfriend to make Mel, who is nearing the end of her life, happy. Except the last time they were together, Jessi and Luke’s relationship ruined everything.
The plot plays out in an alternating timeline between then and now, with flashbacks to the past that connect to events in the present. It was really interesting to see how things unfolded over the course of the book. I liked getting little breadcrumbs in the “now” chapters and kept me engaged until I learned what actually happened in the “then” chapters.
This made it a fast read because I was so invested and so curious to know the full story.
I really enjoyed the romance aspect. It was a mix of the friends to lovers and fake dating tropes which are always fun to read for me. While the romance was one of the lighter plot lines, a lot of this book was super intense. There were a lot of heavy topics covered like depression, terminal illness, loss and grief. This is not at all a light and fluffy YA contemporary but it was still so wonderful to read because I was so connected to the characters and their experiences.
Some Other Now was a really emotional read. It was touching and poignant, yet beautiful and hopeful.
Thank you so much to netgalley, HMH teen and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book promised to be a YA This Is Us in literary form and it definitely delivered. Some Other Now was an absolute emotional rollercoaster and I was happy to be along for the ride. You’ll get all the feels from this captivating read about family, both found and lost.
The story follows Jessi Rumfield, a teen who has always felt closer to Mel Cohen than to her own mom, who spent most of Jessi’s childhood deep in depression that led her to be absent from her daughter’s life. Mel and her sons, Rowan and Luke, became the closest thing to family that Jessi ever knew. After Mel was diagnosed with a terminal illness they called the Big Bad and Rowan began to pull away from his best friend Jessi, nothing was the same again. Now it’s Jessi’s summer after high school graduation, and Luke has turned up after months of silence, asking Jessi to do him a favor: pretend to be his girlfriend to make Mel, who is nearing the end of her life, happy. Except the last time they were together, Jessi and Luke’s relationship ruined everything.
The plot plays out in an alternating timeline between then and now, with flashbacks to the past that connect to events in the present. It was really interesting to see how things unfolded over the course of the book. I liked getting little breadcrumbs in the “now” chapters and kept me engaged until I learned what actually happened in the “then” chapters.
This made it a fast read because I was so invested and so curious to know the full story.
I really enjoyed the romance aspect. It was a mix of the friends to lovers and fake dating tropes which are always fun to read for me. While the romance was one of the lighter plot lines, a lot of this book was super intense. There were a lot of heavy topics covered like depression, terminal illness, loss and grief. This is not at all a light and fluffy YA contemporary but it was still so wonderful to read because I was so connected to the characters and their experiences.
Some Other Now was a really emotional read. It was touching and poignant, yet beautiful and hopeful.
Thank you so much to netgalley, HMH teen and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
jaynethakur's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
iaapproved's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Grief
kit312's review against another edition
3.25
I noticed the similarities with the summer i turned pretty, but i enjoyed this story a lot more. not really the most engaging book ever tho.
norablue's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lmilfort's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Amazing and guy-wrenching story about love and loss.
kthomps1281's review against another edition
4.0
This book was billed as a YA "This Is Us" and it totally lived up to that premise. The plot centers on Jessi Rumfield and her relationships with two brothers, her best friend Rowan Cohen, and his older brother Luke, and the boys' mother Mel, who has served as a surrogate mom to Jessi for years. Told in "Then" and "Now" chapters, the story follows these characters and their changing relationships as they deal with a number of traumatic events that change all of them forever.
Like This Is Us, the interspersed Then and Now chapters give you clues as to the tragic past events that have changed everything about Jessi's relationship with the Cohens in the "Now", the summer after Jessi's high school graduation. I enjoyed the little clues in the "Now" chapters before we found out what really happened in the "Then" chapters; however, like "This Is Us", some of the clues also filled me with anxiety and dread when I was reading the chapters from the past timeline because I knew what was coming.
I expected this story to be very focused on Luke and Jessi's romance, and it was. However, I found the relationships between Jessi and Mel; Jessi and her mother and Jessi and Rowan to be just as compelling. The romance was a lighter element of the plot, but the really powerful plots involved grief, parental relationships, depression and other heavier subjects.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotional YA contemporary novel, but readers should know that this is not a light and fluffy romance. I definitely cried at several points. However, I still enjoyed the story because I was connected to all of the characters.
Like This Is Us, the interspersed Then and Now chapters give you clues as to the tragic past events that have changed everything about Jessi's relationship with the Cohens in the "Now", the summer after Jessi's high school graduation. I enjoyed the little clues in the "Now" chapters before we found out what really happened in the "Then" chapters; however, like "This Is Us", some of the clues also filled me with anxiety and dread when I was reading the chapters from the past timeline because I knew what was coming.
I expected this story to be very focused on Luke and Jessi's romance, and it was. However, I found the relationships between Jessi and Mel; Jessi and her mother and Jessi and Rowan to be just as compelling. The romance was a lighter element of the plot, but the really powerful plots involved grief, parental relationships, depression and other heavier subjects.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotional YA contemporary novel, but readers should know that this is not a light and fluffy romance. I definitely cried at several points. However, I still enjoyed the story because I was connected to all of the characters.
caroliner_readss's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Mental illness
alavallee's review against another edition
3.0
This was a tear jerker. I enjoyed the flashbacks, different family dynamics, the way that your perceptions aren’t always reality. I fell in love with Luke and Jessi and thought the characters were well developed. A lot of sadness in this book, so proceed with caution and Kleenex.