A review by bookedinsaigon
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

3.0

Inner Editrix wanted to slash out a bunch of the slapstick dialogue between the four main characters with the note, "Doesn't move the story along!" It dragged for me a bit and, like I said, I felt like some scenes could have been exchanged for ones more central to the plot. At its core, however, EMMY & OLIVER has a good heart. Benway has a history of writing extremely realistic characters, especially YA parents (and YA parents are NOT easy to write with nuance). The friendship at the core of the novel is one to be envious of. I would have liked for the main conflicts in the story--Oliver's torn feelings about being slotted back into the life he was torn away from, Emmy's growing tension with her parents--to have been developed more deeply; that would have elevated the book from a light read into a true heart-wrencher. As such, EMMY & OLIVER gave me a few smiles and sighs, but ultimately no book hangover.