Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway | From The Repository [11]

From The Repository is a collection of my old book reviews lifted from my old website. Check out the rest here.

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My Thoughts 🧠

If I only knew this book was only going to take me less than 24 hours to read, I would’ve devoured it as soon as I got the ARC.

The synopsis was catchy enough, I was actually excited to read it. At the same time, I became a bit afraid because I thought the book was going to be full of drama and I wasn’t ready for that yet. Not in the mood, more like. Well, I was wrong.

The book tells the story of Emmy and Oliver, who are childhood friends but they lost contact with each other when Oliver was “kidnapped” by his own father. Ten years after, Oliver comes back, but things aren’t just the same anymore for them and with their families and friends.

The thing I really loved about this book was friendship. It explored friendship like no other books. The relationship between Emmy and Oliver was really adorable, but I cannot overlook their other friends, Drew and Caro.

They’ve all been friends with each other since childhood since they grew up in a small town. All of them were affected when Oliver was gone. All of them were affected when Oliver came back. Each of them played a vital role to help Oliver start over. Yep, because that’s what friends do. I love the fact that Robin Benway managed to depict a friendship so real and honest that it speaks directly to my soul. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. <3

“Sometimes love isn’t something you say, it’s something you do.”

Family was also a major topic in the book. I love the fresh perspective it offered me. It actually got me thinking about the kind of relationship I have with my family. It’s really nice to see a book without the usual rebel/angsty teen who has a distant relationship with his/her parents. Although, the four characters had their own version of differences with their parents and families, they way it worked out at the end was so great to see.

The narration was perfection. I’m not even kidding. It’s so honest and beautiful that I could easily feel Emmy’s emotions. The characters were superb. I don’t mean only Emmy and Oliver themselves, but the supporting characters, each of them were given enough exposure which made them more dimensional. If this was an ordinary book, Drew would just be the side gay BFF who brings comic relief and Caro, would probably just be the girl BFF of the main character in which she confides in. But they are not. Even both Emmy and Oliver’s parents got their own spotlight.

The plot was really interesting. It wasn’t heavily dramatic but I got emotional towards the end. I remember even tweeting the author that I might cry reading this book. She joked by virtually giving me a box of tissues.

The story was really lovely. The romance between the main characters was adorable. I love that it started out slow, but their chemistry was burning with passion. I thought it was going to be an insta-love kind of thing but it didn’t. AND I LOVED IT.

Overall Thoughts 💡

I don’t really think I have given enough justice for this book. I just know that I loved it very much. Robin Benway has become an auto-buy author for me. I learned a lot of lessons from this book and I would definitely recommend this to everyone!

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Let’s Chat! 💬

Have you read Emmy and Oliver? What did you think about it?

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This review was first published on The Bibliophile Confessions on June 24, 2015. A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.