Return to Me -- Justina Chen
In a few weeks, Rebecca—Rebecca to her father, Rebel to her boyfriend, Reb to everyone else—is going to start college at Columbia. She's leaving her new boyfriend—they were well-aware of the illogic of starting a serious relationship so soon to a huge separation, but their connection could not be denied—and her friends and her family and her beloved home in the Pacific Northwest, and headed off to create a new life for herself in New York City.
Except that's not what happens: instead, due to her father's new job, THE ENTIRE FAMILY moves to New York. (Or, well, technically New Jersey, but within commuting distance.)
And then, her father—the parent Reb has always felt the most close to, who understands her far better than her mother ever has—drops an even bigger bomb on the family... and then swans off, leaving them to recalibrate and reconnect and re-form into a trio, rather than the quartet they've always been.
It's fitting that North of Beautiful's Terra and Jacob have a cameo in Return to Me, because the books have quite a bit in common:
- An extremely, EXTREMELY difficult father figure. Unlike the father in North of Beautiful, Mr. Muir isn't overtly emotionally or psychologically abusive, but it's worth noting that up until the events of this story, it's clear that the two female members of the family quartet have consistently and constantly changed their behavior to please him. He's charming and handsome, but he also undermines Reb's mother at every turn, and he passive-aggressively pressures Reb to pursue a career that is very clearly in the complete opposite direction from where her true passion lies. He's just as much of a d-bag as the father in North of Beautiful, but he's also a more fully-rounded, three-dimensional character. Despite the realism, he's no-less punchable, though: at his core, despite his public persona, he's a selfish, insecure manchild.
- A misunderstood mother who goes on just as big of a journey as her daughter. Until Mr. Muir's abandonment, Reb has looked at her mother as a bossy, joyless, khaki-wearing martinet. Once he's gone, Reb comes to realize just how generous and unselfish her mother is, and at the same time, her mother finds her way back to her own joy and her own self. It's a hugely empowering journey, and really awesome to see a parent character get that amount of attention and growth in a YA novel.
- A physical journey that leads to emotional healing.
- A heroine with a passion, a la Joan Bauer's heroines.
- A romance that has to overcome some huge obstacles in the heroine's own psyche.
None of that is to say that Return to Me felt like a retread: rather, the books complement each other. It feels almost like the continuation of a journey, albeit with different characters and setting and plot.
NUTSHELL: I've never met a Justina Chen book I didn't like.
____________________________
Author page.
____________________________
Publisher.
____________________________
Book source: Bought.