Some Other Now by Sarah Everett

 

Title: Some Other Now
Author: Sarah Everett
Publish Date: February 23rd, 2021
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: Huge thank you to Raincoast books for providing me with an ARC for review!

This Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the Tree, Emergency Contact, and Nina LaCour.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew what it was like to have a family—even if, technically, that family didn’t belong to her. She’d spent her childhood in the house next door, challenging Rowan Cohen to tennis matches while his older brother, Luke, studied in the background and Mel watched over the three like the mother Jessi always wished she had.

But then everything changed. It’s been almost a year since Jessi last visited the Cohen house. Rowan is gone. Mel is in remission and Luke hates Jessi for the role she played in breaking his family apart. Now Jessi spends her days at a dead-end summer job avoiding her real mother, who suddenly wants to play a role in Jessi's life after being absent for so long. But when Luke comes home from college, it's hard to ignore the past. And when he asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend for the final months of Mel’s life, Jessi finds herself drawn back into the world of the Cohens. Everything’s changed, but Jessi can’t help wanting to be a Cohen, even if it means playing pretend for one final summer.

Penelope's Review

Wow. What a fantastic young adult novel! This was such a feel good read, definitely something fans of Sarah Dessen would love! 

The book follows Jessi, a 17-year-old girl, and her relationship with the Cohen family. Her best friend is Rowan Cohen but she's also close to his mom, Mel, and his older brother, Luke. The book flips between "Then" and "Now" and I actually really liked reading the two different timelines. I love it when books slowly bring the timelines together until they meet, and that's exactly what this book does! I was also really invested in both timelines and wanted to know what happened so badly - usually I prefer one storyline over the other in this type of writing but I loved both equally! 

I absolutely loved the dynamics between Jessi and the Cohen's - she is basically part of their family and I love how they took her in when her own family was not really in the picture. Each and every character had something unique that they brought to the book. I loved all of them, which is not something I can say for many of the books I have read. 

There were so many different emotions felt while reading, and it's a testament to the skill of the author that I was able to feel everything so deeply right along with the characters. This is a really great book because I honestly think that it's suited to any age group. Not only teens, but young adults and adults as well can all take something away. I recommend giving this a try, you won't be disappointed!

Rating: 5/5 Devils!