New Release: You Know Me Well

It has occurred to me in the five months since I wrote this review (and there's a reason I no longer review ARCs that far in advance) that I might have been a bit "hetero-normative" with my first paragraph. In my defense, I didn't even know that was a thing. What I do know, is that this is a delightful YA book. It hits the exact right note of being undramatic without being cutesy. And there are amazing passages in it like this:

"... I have known you since the mountains were made and the rivers were formed. I know we're in a weird place right now, but I want you to step out of it and be there for me. Taylor is a boy, and you are my best friend. Taylor is a date, and you are my calendar. Understood?"

Did you swoon? Because I did. The writing in this book is just so darn good. And a YA book about friendship and the value of said friendship over teen romantic attachments? Sign me up.

Title: You Know Me Well
Authors: Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 6/7/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC courtesy of NetGalley
Rating: ★★★★★

Mark and Kate sat next to each other in Calculus class and never said a word to each other. But during the last week of the school year, they randomly find each other in a bar and everything changes. This, of course, is when Mark and Kate start to fall in love, each amazed that their soulmate has been sitting beside them the whole time undetected... or maybe not.

Mark and Kate are both gay, and both in love with seemingly unobtainable people. Both are in the midst of growing apart from their lifelong best friends, something that is especially painful for Mark because he happens to be in love with his. The two develop an instant connection and a fast friendship that they come to rely on. They help each other through insecurities and confront their fears. Kate is a promising art student who is afraid of success and believes she isn't good enough, not for the UCLA art program that accepted her and certainly not for her crush, Violet. Mark lives in terror of being rejected by his best friend, and sometimes secret boyfriend, Ryan. But even though both Kate and Mark are consumed with being in love, the driving engine of this story is their friendship. 

There were so many places where this book could have dissolved into cliche, but it didn't. The ending was just that much more beautiful because it wasn't presented with a neat little bow. The writing and the characters are both fantastic. If I had to make one complaint, I do think Mark and Kate both seemed overly mature for their age.