So, I enjoyed this book and I really liked the author’s writing style. I thought it was quite interesting that Maggie was overweight and Nash was gay, but that her weight and his gayness weren’t really what the book was about. It wasn’t an issues novel, at least in that respect. It was more about friendship and the things that can wreck it or save it and about finding a way to be happy with yourself. It was also centred around a love triangle, which is usually something that makes my shoulders slump in despair. The love triangle wasn’t done too badly here, but I did wish that there had been other aspects to the plot too.
I did like Maggie. She was quite sarky and fun and she had a good heart. She obviously thought the world of Nash (although God knows why) and was mortified when she thought she might have ruined her friendship with him. I wasn’t really sure why she had such a massive downer on Kayla: I get that Kayla was mean to her in middle school but that was like four years ago and considering she wanted Nash to forgive her for what she did to him, she didn’t seem to be keen on practising what she preached. All in all, though, she was a lot of fun. Her narrative was great and had some really funny moments.
I wasn’t that keen on Nash. He basically made self-obsession into an art form and his and Maggie’s friendship seemed to be all about him all of the time. Moving straight past the bit where he called ‘dibs’ on a boy he liked (which is weird), the hissy fit he threw when Maggie and Tom kissed was just bizarre. I kept wanting to tell Maggie, ‘You’re better off without him!’ He didn’t seem to understand that it’s just wrong to try and control who other people kiss.
Nash knew he had no chance with Tom. Nash is gay; Tom is straight. That’s not really something you can compromise on in a relationship! I tried so hard to feel sorry for Nash - it must be such a nightmare if you’re the only gay guy in a small town - but his overwhelming sense of entitlement made it so difficult.
Tom ... eh. He was very charming and I could see why two people who were unlucky-in-love like Maggie and Nash would fall for him, hook, line and sinker, but I never really got a sense of him as a person. And then he turned into a massive dickweed about 75% in and I just wanted him to fall off a cliff.
So, for me, Maggie and her witty narrative were what I enjoyed the most, but overall I thought this was a fun read, and I’ll definitely look out for other books by this author.
3 stars
I received a copy of You Me and Him in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Houghton Miffin Harcourt and Netgalley