[Review: My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp]

"My Best Everything"
Author: Sarah Tomp
Series: None
Pages: 400
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: March 3rd, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for honest revew

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Summary:

You say it was all meant to be. You and me. The way we met. Our secrets in the woods. Even the way it all exploded. It was simply a matter of fate.

Maybe if you were here to tell me again, to explain it one more time, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so uncertain. But I’m going back to the beginning on my own. To see what happened and why.

Luisa “Lulu” Mendez has just finished her final year of high school in a small Virginia town, determined to move on and leave her job at the local junkyard behind. So when her father loses her college tuition money, Lulu needs a new ticket out.

Desperate for funds, she cooks up the (definitely illegal) plan to make and sell moonshine with her friends, Roni and Bucky. Quickly realizing they’re out of their depth, Lulu turns to Mason: a local boy who’s always seemed like a dead end. As Mason guides Lulu through the secret world of moonshine, it looks like her plan might actually work. But can she leave town before she loses everything – including her heart?

The summer walks the line between toxic and intoxicating. My Best Everything is Lulu’s letter to Mason – though is it an apology, a good-bye, or a love letter?

-Goodreads
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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To My Best Everything,

Welp, you're title is a little misleading, isn't it? I mean you sound like a happy book, but you kind of aren't. Not to say that you're not filled with fun little bits, but you're a heavy book, filled with lots of deep life lessons. Did I like you? Yeah, I did. Did I love you? Nope, I didn't.

-The White Unicorn

I was really excited to read My Best Everything. It's a book that's about a bunch of kids who make Moonshine illegally. If that doesn't sound interesting, I don't know what does. Honestly, Tomp does a great job with that part of the story. It's not like I'm all knowing in the art of making Moonshine (because I'm not) but it seemed like things were legit on that end. Also her grasp on a family who deals in contraband was really interesting. There was a lot of good in this book and I think that I should point that out first. 

Tomp's writing style was really easy to read. The voice that she gives Lulu is an interesting one. The story reads like a letter, or a diary entry, between Lulu and Mason. Right off the bat she's writing to a guy that you don't know yet, but as she looks back at what happened over the summer, you get a firm grasp on who the people in Lulu's life are, and what role they played in the letter needing to be written. 

The friendships and relationships in this book are really complex. It was both a really good thing for me and also something that made me like the book a little less. Let me explain. The book is about going after what you want, while asking the question "should you include someone else in those plans?" I like that Tomp wrote a book like this, I really do. On the other hand, I found that there seemed to be a little bit too much drama, and the conclusion of things seemed a little too big for the book. I swore that the ending was going to be different. A little more subtle, but we got what we got in the end.

I also have to admit that I didn't really like Lulu very much. I liked her in the beginning, but as things progressed I found myself liking her less and less. I have a feeling that that is what Tomp intended, and if she did, then I commend her. I just wish that I would have liked Lulu more than I did.

If you're looking for a contemporary that offers different themes than normal, this is a book you're going to want to pick up!

Rating:

3 Unicorns = I liked it, but it had it's issues!