Every You, Every Me Featured

I had high hopes for this book because I'd heard really positive things about the author's other work but honestly, this book was a struggle to get through. I'm all for teen angst but there seemed to be an exorbitant amount in this story and it left me physically drained.

There's a big mystery surrounding Ariel's leaving and what Evan and Jack "did" to her, almost making it sound as if they killed her. The strike through words were very distracting after the first few pages. I know they were there to show what Evan was really thinking but it added to the angst for me. He spends the majority of the book in a sullen, guilt ridden state, pining over Ariel and all that he's lost. A part of me wanted to hug him and find a way to help him while the other part wanted to take off his Ariel clouded glasses and show him the truth about her. He never really saw Ariel as a whole, the way everyone else around him saw her. They were both broken in ways that fed off of one another creating a co-dependant friendship but others, like Jack, Katie and Fiona were able to see that her brokenness required serious help.

It thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning that Ariel struggled with some sort of mental illness that went far beyond the typical depression or dark cloud days that many teens deal with. I think she preyed upon Evan and his emotions knowing that he wanted to be more than friends and she also took advantage of Jack's love for her which made me not like her. Jack tried to help her but as he explained to Evan later in the story, Ariel made a game out of her illness and he couldn't be sucked into it anymore. That's how mental illness works though. Left untreated, it will completely consume the person whose battling it and suck everyone around them into the dark abyss too.

When the mystery surrounding the photos and notes was revealed I was left feeling even more distressed because it meant there was one more person struggling with a distorted view of reality.

I did like how the photographs were used in conjunction with the manuscript. It brought that part of the story alive for me which was nice. I'm sure there are those who will love this book but unfortunately, I am not one of them.