First off, I want to thank Around the World ARC Tours for allowing me to read So Much Closer early. (I read it two days before the release date, but still. That counts, right?)
When Brooke’s crush, Scott, moves from their suburban town to New York City, she decides to follow him there. Living with her formerly estranged dad and adapting to a new school are challenging, and things go from bad to worse when Brooke learns that Scott already has a girlfriend. But as she builds her new life, Brooke begins to discover a side of herself she never knew existed. And as she finds out, in the city that never sleeps, love can appear around any corner…
The first thing I thought after I read that summary was “It’s the high school version of FELICITY.” I know I’m not the only one. Moving to NYC for a guy? Come on, that screams Felicity. (Let’s take a second here to remember the awesomeness that was Felicity and Noel *sigh* and Ben. Good times.)
So Much Closer is much more than a girl moving to NYC for a guy, though. After about fifty pages, that set-up doesn’t apply anymore because it becomes more about Brooke and her self-discovery. Brooke finds herself in a huge and strange town, living with her father, whom she doesn’t know very well anymore. She kind of has to grow-up and figure out how to handle starting over in a new place.
Brooke and the people she meets in NYC are great characters. I especially love Sadie and her “warm fuzzies”. (You’ll have to read the book to find out what those are. I’m not spoiling it.) And the way Brooke interacts with the person she tutors… oh, it makes me want to be their friend so I can hang out with them and go hear Beatles’ covers and talk about the tops of buildings.
Besides the characters, NYC played a large part in the story. Honestly, I felt like this book was a love letter to NYC. I’ve only been there once, but after reading So Much Closer, I want to visit again and stay longer than a couple days. I also want to find some of the places Susane describes because I definitely feel like I’m missing out.
Susane Colasanti has a tendency to reference pop culture things I love in her books and this one was no exception. For example, both The Office and Office Space were referenced and quoted from. I loved it. If there was an award for favorite pop culture author, I would give it to Susane.
Overall, this is a good contemporary YA read for people of all ages. It’s good, clean fun all around and I look forward to more of Susane in the future.