Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
Lucy and Owen’s relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and — finally — a reunion in the city where they first met.
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel shows that the center of the world isn’t necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.
4 Drink Me Potions
The beginning was slower than I had thought it would be. Sure, the boy-meets-girl moment happens almost immediately but I wasn’t feeling much for it. AT FIRST. But wait! As the story took its course, there were moments where I had to sit back and just pause to smile at the pages before me.
Owen and Lucy are rather normal characters, as main protagonists go. I wouldn’t say they’re unlikeable, ’cause for sure they are likeable enough for me to continue reading their respective stories, but they’re not excitingly memorable/unique. Each have something to deal with at the beginning. For Owen, it was dealing with the move to NY and over losing his mom. For Lucy, it was being left alone a lot, with her brothers away for school and parents always travelling around the world. I loved that over the span of the book, they both changed and grew from these experiences.
The romance was cute. It was also slow coming, but eventually I felt that irresistible pull they had on each other just as they were discovering it for themselves too. Long distance relationships are hard, and it requires a lot of commitment to one another. I loved that it explored the ups and the downs in any relationship like that.
Maybe my 4 stars are a bit generous, but how could I not be? The Geography of You and Me has some of my very favourite things in it. A beautiful starlit sky where our protagonists first felt the magic; travelling/exploring beautiful cities around the world; and a romance that conquers the distance between them. Sighhh, it’s just too cute for words.
By the way, I absolutely am grateful that Jennifer E Smith kept the ending realistic. It didn’t take away any of the magic of the relationship, maybe even added to it. The writing still melts my heart as I think back on it.
Overall Recommendation:
What started off slow and almost too boring to continue, The Geography of You and Me holds more promise to it than that if you just dig deeper. With sweeping descriptions of gorgeous cities in Europe and America, any traveller who’s been there (like I have!) or wishes to will enjoy the imagery. Just imagine yourself there along with them! And how could anyone resist a relationship that knows no bounds? Distance may just soften the heart.
I recommend this sweet story to anyone who loves travelling and cute relationships!
Down the Rabbit Hole 
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