Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas

Title: Nowhere Near You
Author: Leah Thomas
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Bloomsbury
Goodreads

Following up her acclaimed debut, Because You'll Never Meet Me, Leah Thomas continues the stories of Ollie and Moritz in another heart-warming story of unique friendship.

Ollie and Moritz might never meet, but their friendship knows no bounds. Their letters carry on as Ollie embarks on his first road trip away from the woods--no easy feat for a boy allergic to electricity--and Moritz decides which new school would best suit an eyeless boy who prefers to be alone.

Along the way they meet other teens like them, other products of strange science who lead seemingly normal lives in ways Ollie and Moritz never imagined possible: A boy who jokes about his atypical skeleton; an aspiring actress who hides a strange deformity; a track star whose abnormal heart propels her to victory. Suddenly the future feels wide open for two former hermits. But even as Ollie and Moritz dare to enjoy life, they can't escape their past, which threatens to destroy any progress they've made. Can these boys ever find their place in a world that might never understand them?

Review by Nara

I have to admit, I couldn't remember much about the first book, Because You'll Never Meet Me, when I started Nowhere Near You. Because of this, I was a bit confused at the start as to what was going on. To be honest, the only thing I remembered from book one was that the science of the novel was a bit questionable and that the voices of the two protagonists are very distinct.

These two things still hold true in the sequel. The writing quality remains quite good, with the voices of the protagonists being quite different from each other. And the science does remain ambiguous and unrealistic- but by this book I decided to just accept it for what it was.

I quite liked the main storylines of Ollie and Moritz, but I have to admit, I didn't care much for those side stories that were included of the various other "strange" teens. I don't know exactly what made me care so little for them- possibly the fact that Ollie and Moritz's stories were much more interesting, possibly just that the others weren't developed quite so well. The only issue with the main plotlines was that overall the pace was quite slow- making it difficult to engage in the novel as easily as in book one.

Overall, this was a pretty decent sequel, although it perhaps falls a little short of Book One. I would recommend continuing if you liked the first book and are invested in the characters as there are some great scenes, especially towards the end of the novel.

Liked it

Ratings
Overall: 7/10
Plot: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: 3/5