Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy's soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life... She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents' relentless worrying. But Emmy's parents can't seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart... He'd thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who had kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing, and his thoughts swirling.

This was a one-sitting read for me. While the premise deals with the unfunny topic of parental kidnapping and the fallout, the characters are adorable and easy to root for.

oh my god. that's the only thought going through my head rn. when I started this book, something was telling me that I would love it, I didn't expect to actually love it though

Looking through reviews on here, it seems I might be the only person who didn't enjoy this book at all. And that is exactly why I never trust Goodreads ratings.

Emmy has known Oliver her entire life. But when Oliver's dad kidnaps him when they're seven, everyone's world is turned upside down. Now they're 17 (?) and Oliver is back. But no one is the same. Can they still be friends, etc, etc, etc. There's a heart on the cover and this is contemporary YA. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

I wanted to give this three stars so badly just because the plot line is finally something not overdone in YA. It sounded so promising and emotional. But I just couldn't give this more than two stars. I just really did not enjoy reading this book. I kind of dreaded it?? I had to force myself to finish because I JUST DNF'd a book. So here we are. The writing style is kind of painful and the romance was SO cheesy at times. I so wish it had been better because the PLOT. Childhood best friend gets kidnapped and then just shows up again 10 years later?! Come on! This had so much potential.

I really can't explain what I didn't like about this other than the writing style, the parents were absolutely clueless and AWFUL, and Oliver has just come back from being kidnapped and everyone is just pretending nothing happened??? This honestly would have been so much better if it was from his POV or dual POV. Or if it focused on that one aspect. But between Emmy's drama and the side character drama, it was way too much and nothing got focused on. Not to mention that every single “twist” and pain point was SO predictable I couldn't even believe it. It was just really frustrating to read.

TLDR; This is not it, sis.

Would I recommend?
No. Go read a Sarah Dessen or Deb Caletti if you're looking for contemporary YA that will actually make you feel something other than bored and frustrated.