The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Description from Goodreads:

Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.

Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.

A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.

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I've lately read only high fantasy books so it was incredibly nice to read something else from a completely different genre. The Geography of You and Me was a heartwarming yet touching read which made me grin like a doofus but also brought tears to my eyes. The story isn't just about two people roaming around the world and finding their place in the world, but also about how if you want something really badly, and if you are willing to take a courageous step towards it, you just might get it.

I really liked Lucy, because I saw so much myself in her: sort of a loner, doesn't cringe away from solitude, loves wandering around the city with a book, and she is actually pretty content with all of this. Even when she fell for Owen, she stayed true to her own character - she didn't change even though her emotions did. And that was a really nice to witness; when a girl fancies a guy, he doesn't automatically become the centre of her world. And the same thing went for Owen as well. As much as they enjoyed each others' company, life has the tendency to go on. But of course, they never forgot, which made the story so heartwarming. 

The familial relationships are also under examination in addition to the romantic relationships. I especially liked the relationship between Lucy and her mother. In the beginning of the novel, you immediately get the feeling of negligence from Lucy's parents - they are always off to some holiday leaving Lucy and her brothers to stay in New York. However, The Geography of You and Me leaves the readers to ponder on the question how all relationships, including mother-and-daughter relationships, are two-way streets; both of them have to contribute to stay close. The relationship between Owen and his father was really interesting as well, and I wished there was more examination of them.

One of my favourite things in the book was the symmetry between Lucy and Owen. Even though they were thousands of kilometres away from each other and had no idea what the other person was up to, their actions were synchronised. There was this one particular incident when Owen's "toes were pointing east" while Lucy "faced west". And these weren't the only occasions - there were numerous ones which created the feeling of these two people belonging together and perhaps foreshadowing some of the events. 

If you're looking for a cute, quick read which also has actual substance to it and isn't all about fluffy couple scenes, you should check out The Geography of You and Me. I read the whole thing in one sit and I if I'm looking to read similar kinds of books, I think I'm going to check Jennifer E. Smith's other books. 

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