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A review by emjm
Someone Just Like You by Meredith Schorr
4.0
I am about to write quite possibly the most self-indulgent, subjective review I've ever written. I am aware that all book reviews are technically subjective (though technically and actually tend to be pretty exclusive terms for me). I guess what I mean is, my personal rating system is a bit strange. Some people rate purely based on feeling (how much they actually enjoyed the book) and some cosplay as a sophisticated book reviewer for some high-brow publication like The New Yorker. I find myself constantly ebbing between those two extremes, but today, we're throwing all metrics out the window.
Simply put, this book had just about everything necessary for me to absolutely love it; not necessarily for YOU, keep in mind. I have no idea if this is a recommendation because my internal biases and inclinations are flaring so bright I couldn't be impartial if I tried. I regularly give books I love 3 stars, if that tells you anything, because I am aware of their shortcomings. With this one? I couldn't see or care about the shortcomings if I tried, so I'm tempering myself and giving it a glowing 4 star review.
Let's start with the tropes. You've got two 27-year-old main characters with opposite personalities, whose families happened to be next-door neighbors growing up and extremely close. As the babies of both their groups of siblings, they were best friends growing up until differing personalities led to them growing apart into high school where a back-and-forth of pranks kept them in opposition, cementing their "enemy" status by adulthood. Now, as twenty-somethings in NYC, they rarely see each other or even speak unless joint family events require it, and as you would guess, a celebration of both sets of parents' upcoming anniversaries, as planned by the older siblings, now put our two main characters back in each others universe where they're forced to work together to find a venue for the event. Naturally, the pranks and verbal jabs start back up.
Already, we've got the childhood friends trope, a *light* enemies-to-lovers setup (they just butted heads throughout high school, and while there's animosity, they clearly don't hate each other, which is a fine E2L set-up in a "real" world scenario, in my opinion). AND we've got two families that doubt they can actually work together because of the way they revert to immaturity in each other's presence? I feel as if I pick up every book hoping the story setup is even anywhere near this kind, and when I actually find it? Perfection.
I also love that neither one of them actually *liked* each other like that, at least not consciously, until adulthood. There was no annoying each other as a form of secret pining. They truly shocked themselves as much as anyone, which was a refreshing twist on this kind of trope.
Me looking for this specific set of romcom circumstances in every book I read, is kind of like how Jude and Molly unknowingly look for each other in all their romantic partners. *Picture that meme of Snoop Dogg holding up a sign that reads "this is the cutest shit I've ever seen." Also, when the big reveal of the fact that these two don't hate each other, not even a little bit, happens with regard to their families... the outcome is everything I want. There are few things I despise more than when there is an "unlikely" couple, but nobody in their life reacts or makes a big deal, or when the situation is just brushed over in the book. I mean, give me the DRAMA. Here, the moment got the attention and freakout it deserved.
Another thing I loved in this one was how it truly felt like 3 full stories. The "getting together" part was my favorite (so satisfying) and I honestly thought the book was almost done at that point, then I realized we had a good third of the way to go. Books often show you that getting over yourself and getting together, but rarely acknowledge that it's just the start... actually being together? That's a whole other deal.
This story was a major bang for your buck in how it delivered and kept going. The only thing that would've made it better was if we had Jude's POV, but nobody is perfect (except Jude; carefree, funny, baseball-loving, irritating Jude. He's more "himbo" than the typical book guy I like, but oh did I like Jude and all his punny glory).
I won't even get into the side characters and plots, like disappointing family with life decisions, family drama in general, professional dissatisfaction and putting your worth in whatever job you have, late 20's ennui (ennui is my favorite word, btw), or just reconciling who you are with who you've been and how you proceed (you know... growing up and life in general). It was all great.
As an aside, I find myself loving these romcoms about Jewish girls in their mid-to-late 20s, usually set in the Northeast because they are always SO relatable to me personally. I mean, on the surface, I should not relate much, but I think singleness with Jewish families has similarities to singleness as a woman in the South, and man, does it hit. I also love living vicariously through twenty-somethings in NYC just living life and dating and figuring it out. Some other books that fit this vibe are For the Love of Friends by Sara Confino Goodman and The Un-Arranged Marriage by Laura Brown, which happened to be two of my favorite books I read last year.
Simply put, this book had just about everything necessary for me to absolutely love it; not necessarily for YOU, keep in mind. I have no idea if this is a recommendation because my internal biases and inclinations are flaring so bright I couldn't be impartial if I tried. I regularly give books I love 3 stars, if that tells you anything, because I am aware of their shortcomings. With this one? I couldn't see or care about the shortcomings if I tried, so I'm tempering myself and giving it a glowing 4 star review.
Let's start with the tropes. You've got two 27-year-old main characters with opposite personalities, whose families happened to be next-door neighbors growing up and extremely close. As the babies of both their groups of siblings, they were best friends growing up until differing personalities led to them growing apart into high school where a back-and-forth of pranks kept them in opposition, cementing their "enemy" status by adulthood. Now, as twenty-somethings in NYC, they rarely see each other or even speak unless joint family events require it, and as you would guess, a celebration of both sets of parents' upcoming anniversaries, as planned by the older siblings, now put our two main characters back in each others universe where they're forced to work together to find a venue for the event. Naturally, the pranks and verbal jabs start back up.
Already, we've got the childhood friends trope, a *light* enemies-to-lovers setup (they just butted heads throughout high school, and while there's animosity, they clearly don't hate each other, which is a fine E2L set-up in a "real" world scenario, in my opinion). AND we've got two families that doubt they can actually work together because of the way they revert to immaturity in each other's presence? I feel as if I pick up every book hoping the story setup is even anywhere near this kind, and when I actually find it? Perfection.
I also love that neither one of them actually *liked* each other like that, at least not consciously, until adulthood. There was no annoying each other as a form of secret pining. They truly shocked themselves as much as anyone, which was a refreshing twist on this kind of trope.
Me looking for this specific set of romcom circumstances in every book I read, is kind of like how Jude and Molly unknowingly look for each other in all their romantic partners. *Picture that meme of Snoop Dogg holding up a sign that reads "this is the cutest shit I've ever seen." Also, when the big reveal of the fact that these two don't hate each other, not even a little bit, happens with regard to their families... the outcome is everything I want. There are few things I despise more than when there is an "unlikely" couple, but nobody in their life reacts or makes a big deal, or when the situation is just brushed over in the book. I mean, give me the DRAMA. Here, the moment got the attention and freakout it deserved.
Another thing I loved in this one was how it truly felt like 3 full stories. The "getting together" part was my favorite (so satisfying) and I honestly thought the book was almost done at that point, then I realized we had a good third of the way to go. Books often show you that getting over yourself and getting together, but rarely acknowledge that it's just the start... actually being together? That's a whole other deal.
This story was a major bang for your buck in how it delivered and kept going. The only thing that would've made it better was if we had Jude's POV, but nobody is perfect (except Jude; carefree, funny, baseball-loving, irritating Jude. He's more "himbo" than the typical book guy I like, but oh did I like Jude and all his punny glory).
I won't even get into the side characters and plots, like disappointing family with life decisions, family drama in general, professional dissatisfaction and putting your worth in whatever job you have, late 20's ennui (ennui is my favorite word, btw), or just reconciling who you are with who you've been and how you proceed (you know... growing up and life in general). It was all great.
As an aside, I find myself loving these romcoms about Jewish girls in their mid-to-late 20s, usually set in the Northeast because they are always SO relatable to me personally. I mean, on the surface, I should not relate much, but I think singleness with Jewish families has similarities to singleness as a woman in the South, and man, does it hit. I also love living vicariously through twenty-somethings in NYC just living life and dating and figuring it out. Some other books that fit this vibe are For the Love of Friends by Sara Confino Goodman and The Un-Arranged Marriage by Laura Brown, which happened to be two of my favorite books I read last year.