Review Detail

Veronica sees her mother’s ghost all over her house. She’s not sure if it’s real, given the other ghosts that seem to roam downstairs, or if it's a symptom of her brain tumor. What she does know is that it’s getting worse...and she can’t tell her dad who is still grieving from her mom. Sawyer may be the golden boy at school, but his home life is a wreck. His mom just moved them into a lower floor apartment of the weirdest girl in school, she can’t seem to quit drinking on the weekends, and his crave for adrenaline is putting him in more and more dangerous situations. When Veronica and Sawyer team up for a school project together, their chemistry is undeniable, but with their demons breathing down their necks, can they make it work?

In traditional Katie McGarry fashion, ECHOES BETWEEN US doesn’t hold back the emotional punches. Veronica and Sawyer are both trying to keep their worlds from falling apart, and they know a romance could wreck it all. I love their journey in really getting to know each other beyond the surface level impressions they had before. They seem like such an unlikely pair, but as you dive deeper into their worlds and mindsets, you see that their hearts are entirely similar.

One of my favorite aspects of Katie McGarry’s YA romances is the conflicts. There is always a unique blend of external and internal conflicts that leave you frantically flipping the pages to see how on earth the characters could overcome them. Above all, they send the message that love (of any kind- romantic, platonic, familial) is not the enemy but often the saving grace. In the middle of emotional hurricanes, it’s all too tempting to push that love away for fear of ruining it, but Sawyer and Veronica show that love can be given space if needed without being pushed away.