My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Title: You’d Be Home Now
Author: Kathleen Glasgow
Format: eBook (NetGalley)
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 9/28/21
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Categories: Coming of Age, Addiction, Drugs, Family, Friendship, Contemporary, Young Adult
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Piecescomes a breathtaking story about a town, its tragedies, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.
For all of Emory’s life she’s been told who she is. In town she’s the rich one–the great-great-granddaughter of the mill’s founder. At school she’s hot Maddie Ward’s younger sister. And at home, she’s the good one, her stoner older brother Joey’s babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey’s drug habit was.
Four months later, Emmy’s junior year is starting, Joey is home from rehab, and the entire town of Mill Haven is still reeling from the accident. Everyone’s telling Emmy who she is, but so much has changed, how can she be the same person? Or was she ever that person at all?
Mill Haven wants everyone to live one story, but Emmy’s beginning to see that people are more than they appear. Her brother, who might not be cured, the popular guy who lives next door, and most of all, many ghostie addicts who haunt the edges of the town. People spend so much time telling her who she is–it might be time to decide for herself.
Inspired by the American classic Our Town, You’d Be Home Now is Kathleen Glasgow’s glorious modern story of a town and the secret lives people live there. And the story of a girl, figuring out life in all its pain and beauty and struggle and joy.
Emory was in an accident that killed a girl from high school. She wasn’t driving but she was in the car as a passenger, along with her brother, Joey, who was high on drugs when the accident happens. How does she go on from that? Do people really care how she feels? She gets blamed at school for the death. But in her own family she always feels invisible – her brother is a druggie so he gets plenty of negative attention, her older sister was popular and hot, so she got a lot of the positive attention which means Emory is the invisible one. Emory may not turn to drugs but she finds her own ways to cope with her dysfunctional family and she’s just trying to survive high school.
This story tackles drug addiction in young people straight on. It mentions the small town and how other people and their families may be affected by the drug problem. I liked how Joey is sent to rehab, we don’t have scenes from rehab but we get to see what recovery in the beginning stages would like – especially in a family like Emory’s. Her dad is an ER doctor, her mom is a lawyer – they are the richest family in town, but their life is hardly perfect. Their mom is stern, and their dad hardly there – it leaves these kids floundering.
Another great thing about this story is how it brings up how adults were once kids too dealing with their own stuff but generations are so different. I used to be like Emory – kind of lost and unsure and quiet, but I was brought up in the “deal with it” generation – and that’s what I did. As an adult and parent now, I definitely try not to be how my parents were with me and this book definitely gets it on these issues between parents and children or just adults and children.
I love Emory’s love for her brother. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating for any family to deal with addiction. I can’t say I have been in that situation but friends have been, or I’ve known people with drug problems and it’s tough to want to help and yet waiting for the person to want the help. Emory doesn’t give up on Joey and you know Emory is always being told what to do, how to be – people tell her to grow a spine even, she gets bullied, she feels like she doesn’t have a voice – but that girl is so brave to love and fight for her brother. She even weathered all that bullying with a shrug almost, the only thing to her that really mattered was her brother. And that’s what made me cry. The ending of this book is so emotional, but her love was there.
Triggers: drug use, cyber bullying, car accident, addiction
Even though this story deals with some heavy topics, it felt like a light read – I didn’t feel dragged down by all the strong emotions the characters felt and yet it wasn’t light-hearted. The way it’s written was easy to read, easy to digest, even in the emotional parts in the end. I still felt hopeful for this family. Hopeful for Emory.
Why you should read it:
- a raw look at addiction, whether it’s to drugs, or to getting affection from a stranger
- it gives us adults a good reminder at what kids go through, and gives kids a reminder that they aren’t alone
- it’s emotional, especially when it comes to how addiction can fracture a family
- an important read because addiction is a problem in our country (USA)
Why you might not want to read it:
- heavy topics
- triggers
My Thoughts:
This is an important story about a family dealing with a loved one with addiction, and a whole town trying to deal with a problem that is growing. This story is raw, heartbreaking, sad, and yet there was still a thread of hope for Joey’s recovery, for the Ward family to stay strong, for Emory to be seen and find her voice and even for the town to help their own community. This one should be a must read for teens, young adults and adults.
📚 ~ Yolanda
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