A review by solaris_zip
Wish You Weren't Here by Christy Schillig

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

"I wish you weren't here" is a book, narrated under the dual POVs of Ava and James, that follows the story of Ava, a 28 years old American woman who needs some extra credit to graduate from law school. She decides to fulfil a promise she made to her mother years before, and she decides to take these extra credits in Urbino, Italy (city that held a special significance to her mother - and later in the book to Ava too) 

What I really liked about the book is how the author, Christy Schillig, manages to teleports you right into an Italian summer. I am Italian, I literally live in this country, and yet Schilling managed to make me feel nostalgic for *the* Italian summers. For how August summer nights feels. Spend under the gazebo, around the table, with the fresh summer breeze. 

Christy Schilling managed to create a novel that brings you right to Italy, drinking an aperol spritz with your friends while doing an aperitivo. 

I liked how the writing was smooth and easy to follow, how the chapters were short and it kept you hooked to reading again and again. I can't deny I shed some tears towards the end, as Ava and James miscommunication was getting 

*hard*. But I also loved their banter. I wish we got to see more of their romance. 

This is a novel about the importance of finding a family, and that it doesn't always mean blood family. That you can find love even in the most unexpected, smallest things. The importance of learning and healing from your trauma. To learn to move on and to find strength within you. 

Filled with art, lingering touches and unsaid words and thoughts. Art that connects generations. Art that speaks to the soul. And fated love, where they have always been connected, just without their knowledge. Bound to lose and to find each other. I wish you weren't here is a rollercoaster of emotions, which will push you right into an Italian summer. 

You can almost feel you're there, along side the characters, as the book manages to incorporate Italian and English language and elements into one. A must read !!