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Books of Amber

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Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

23/07/2014      6 Comments

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan MatsonSince You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: July 3, 2014
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: five-stars

The Pre-Sloane Emily didn't go to parties, she barely talked to guys, she didn't do anything crazy. Enter Sloane, social tornado and the best kind of best friend—the one who yanks you out of your shell.But right before what should have been an epic summer, Sloane just... disappears. No note. No calls. No texts. No Sloane. There’s just a random to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-selected-definitely-bizarre-tasks that Emily would never try... unless they could lead back to her best friend. Apple Picking at Night? Ok, easy enough.Dance until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a Stranger? Wait... what?

Getting through Sloane’s list would mean a lot of firsts. But Emily has this whole unexpected summer ahead of her, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected) to check things off. Who knows what she’ll find?

Go Skinny Dipping? Um...

Morgan Matson needs to stop ruining my life. It started with Second Chance Summer a couple of years ago when I cried over Taylor and her dying father, and now she’s done it again with Emily and Sloane and Frank. I’m beginning to think she has some sort of vendetta against me. WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU, MORGAN.

Since You’ve Been Gone is another masterpiece by one of my favourite authors. Amy and Roger wasn’t AMAZING, but her newest two contemporary novels are two of my favourite books of all time.

Morgan Matson writes such wonderful relationships, and the one that really blew me away in Since You’ve Been Gone was the slow burn between Emily and Frank. By the time the two of them finally realised their feelings for each other, I thought I was going to keel over and die from feels. The best thing about their relationship is that they become best friends over the summer before any romance is involved on either side. There’s no insta-love, no initial “holy fuck he’s the most attractive boy ever”, it’s just epic friendship, plain and simple. And then Matson builds upon it, and continues building until you feel like you can’t breathe. So, yeah, Emily and Frank are one of my favourite couples ever.

fucking ship it

And if I was ever to write a book or a fan fic and include a Bella Swan-esque self-insert, Emily would be it. I felt so much of a connection with her that I loved her from the first chapter, and I was feeling all those emotions – ranging from embarrassment to awkwardness to loneliness to happiness – with her. Like me, Emily suffers from crippling shyness, and out of all of the YA protagonists who “suffer” from this, Emily is one of the few where it’s portrayed well. I found myself nodding along when Emily was talking about how she second-guessed everything she said, even after planning it out beforehand and creating awkward pauses. She is me.

I adore Emily, and I want someone to adapt this book into a movie so I can stick a poster of her on my wall.

I don’t really know how else to express my love for this book. I cried, I laughed, I squealed, and I simply fell head over heels in love with all of the characters and the storyline. The mystery of Sloane disappearing played out as I expected, but that didn’t make it any less brilliant. I thought it was amazing how Morgan Matson slowly made the story less and less about Sloane’s absence, and more and more about Emily and her goings on. Because at the beginning of the book, Emily is dependent on Sloane, but as the story progresses she starts to become her own person and she starts to shine.

I have even found a song to go with Emily/the book, which is something I never do because I don’t know enough music for that malarkey. I feel like this one is a good fit because Emily gradually comes out of her shell over the course of the book:

If you gave me a chance, I would take it. It’s a shot in the dark but I’ll make it.

And also one for Emily and Frank (which might have been included in one of the playlists in the book? I have a feeling I saw it in there):

and another because of reasons:

To end this extremely professional and award-worthy review, I would just like to say:

read the book

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Natalie @ Quirky Vintage Blog says

    23/07/2014 at 11:00 am

    Sounds like a pretty decent book then! Love your review, lol It definitely makes me want to read it. I really liked Morgan Matson’s other books, so this one will definitely be on my wishlist

    Reply
    • Amber says

      23/07/2014 at 11:32 am

      It’s aweeeeeeesome! Morgan Matson is such a fabulous writer.

      Reply
  2. Patrick @ The Bookshelves says

    23/07/2014 at 4:42 pm

    I got to pick this one up! Your review Amber has been wanting to pick this one up at the moment! I love the music you integrated and the GIFs (they really get the review on point!)

    Happy Reading
    Patrick @ The Bookshelves

    Reply
    • Amber says

      24/07/2014 at 11:38 am

      I’m glad you liked the music and the gifs 😀 I was a bit worried that my review wouldn’t be ~professional~ enough, but at the same time I didn’t want to write an essay. READ IT.

      Reply
  3. Judith says

    02/08/2014 at 10:54 am

    This book made me cry because Morgan Matson is evil and I love her so much

    I could also REALLY relate to Emily, especially with her thinking about things she said and mentally cursing because the things she said were so stupid. Does that make sense? That’s totally how I feel all the time.

    Frank and Emily are ADORABLE. I love how they were friends first and then boom romance.

    Does this comment even make sense I think not.

    But I loved this book and it’s one of my favorites ever even though it wasn’t QUITE five stars for me.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Monthly Wrap Up and Giveaway: July 2014 – Books of Amber says:
    01/08/2014 at 1:01 pm

    […] lots of excellent gifs. The Gannicus gif is reason enough to read the post. Finally, I died over Since You’ve Been Gone, because Morgan Matson is out to get […]

    Reply

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My name is Amber, I'm 27 years old, and I've been a book blogger, reviewer, and Tuber for ten years. When I'm not reading, I love gaming, exercising, cinema trips, hiking, and exploring.

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