There are no spoilers in this review.
Sometimes, you stumble upon a book you’re just feeling certain about. It’s just a feeling, really, it’s just because of some keywords in a synopsis, because it’s an author you already love, because your most trusted bookish friends have loved it. You just know.
I’m not certain why, but this happened with Our Year Of Maybe. I haven’t read anything by the author previously and, despite hearing praise about her debut, You’ll Miss Me When I Am Gone, it’s not what made me say “that’s it”. It’s the synopsis, the original, unique idea and oh my god ALL THE FEELINGS I had while reading this.
A million thanks to Simon Pulse, Rachel Lynn Solomon & NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.
AN ORIGINAL STORY WITH TWO GREATLY SHAPED CHARACTERS AT ITS HEART
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Our Year Of Maybe tells the story of two best friends, dealing with the aftermath of a kidney transplant between them. That’s the general idea and, friends, that’s already where this book had me, with the originality of its synopsis, the best friends links and all the feelings that goes with it all.
Told in alternative point of views, we get to know Sophie, a kidney donor for her best friend and next-door neighbor Peter and, well, Peter. Right from the start, we get to grasp these two characters and their complex, strong, codependent friendship on the page, something I adored. Yet, if the synopsis and the overall plot of the book deals with their friendship (and the little something more Sophie feels), this book isn’t solely about what links them together: it’s also about them individually.
It takes a stunning writer to give life to characters on the page and that’s what Rachel Lynn Solomon did: each of the main characters were three-dimensional, realistic and well thought-of, from the start. Sophie is passionate about dancing and choreographing, though she does not quite believe in herself. She also happens to have dyslexia, something that is quietly mentioned in the story and yay for rep. Peter is a pianist, a reader, passionate about music and still trying to find where he fits in with his own beliefs when it comes to religion, as he is half-Jewish. What made this read even more stunning, was the character-growth each of them went through in the matter of 300 and something pages. I loved seeing them grow, change, question themselves, their identities, who they are, what they believe in and the kind of person they want to be, too.
A STORY ABOUT AN ALL-CONSUMING FRIENDSHIP
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Obviously, I’m going to talk about Peter and Sophie’s all-consuming, codependent friendship and the complexity of it all. For a fan of childhood friends trope and best friends trope, let me tell you, this felt like the icing on the cake and even more. I adored seeing the two main characters together and apart, grasping with love, friendship, the lines drawn between the two, the messed-up feelings and messed-up fights that tore my heart into a million pieces. Our Year Of Maybe is about friendship, it’s also about finding yourself on your own when you’re always used to be part of a pair and I loved that discussion thorough the book and how each of the characters grew, while realizing that. .
FAMILY VIBES, SISTERS, ADORABLE SIDE CHARACTERS
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Our Year Of Maybe takes us on the perfect contemporary ride so, if you’re a fan of character focused-books, questioning identity, friendships, love, I’m telling you that you need this. It doesn’t stop there though: Rachel Lynn Solomon adds tastefully a little side of family vibes, with heartwarming moments between Peter and his dad about being Jewish, incredible and complex sister vibes with Tabby and Sophie, an adorable group of queer friends for Peter (who is bisexual, by the way, stated on page from page one, yay!), music and bands with strange names and BOOKSTORE KISSES and soft adorable boys and love interests and I should stop there. Probably. Most likely.
OVERALL
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I’m guessing you know what my ending here will be. I hope you’ll pick up this book and I hope you’ll love it. If you’re a contemporary fan, or looking for a contemporary to read, let this be the one you’ll pick up soon. It made me cry and feel everything and honestly, that’s all I ever want to find in my books.
Final rating: It’s a HURRICANE (of emotions)!
Diversity: Jewish main characters (Sophie is Jewish, Peter is half-Jewish), Dyslexia (Sophie), Bisexuality (Peter), Korean side-character (Josh), Half-Argentinian character (Chase). This book is #ownvoices (Jewish) *
*from now on, I will be doing my very best to include a diversity category in my reviews as well as the trigger warnings one, to highlight diverse characters in the books I read. That being said, I am not perfect and please let me know if you see any mistake or something missing in both of these categories at some point. Thank you and I hope this can be helpful!
Rachel Lynn Solomon, Our Year Of Maybe, Published by Simon Pulse, January 15th, 2019.
Aspiring choreographer Sophie Orenstein would do anything for Peter Rosenthal-Porter, who’s been on the kidney transplant list as long as she’s known him. Peter, a gifted pianist, is everything to Sophie: best friend, musical collaborator, secret crush. When she learns she’s a match, donating a kidney is an easy, obvious choice. She can’t help wondering if after the transplant, he’ll love her back the way she’s always wanted.
But Peter’s life post-transplant isn’t what either of them expected. Though he once had feelings for Sophie, too, he’s now drawn to Chase, the guitarist in a band that happens to be looking for a keyboardist. And while neglected parts of Sophie’s world are calling to her—dance opportunities, new friends, a sister and niece she barely knows—she longs for a now-distant Peter more than ever, growing increasingly bitter he doesn’t seem to feel the same connection.
Peter fears he’ll forever be indebted to her. Sophie isn’t sure who she is without him. Then one heartbreaking night twists their relationship into something neither of them recognizes, leading them to question their past, their future, and whether their friendship is even worth fighting for
- Don’t miss out on my interview with Rachel Lynn Solomon, where we talked about Our Year Of Maybe, writing, music and favorites of 2018!
Did you read Our Year of maybe, or Rachel Lynn Solomon’s debut, You’ll Miss Me When I Am Gone? Do you want to?
Did you read any books with friendship at its heart lately? I’d love your recommendations! Let me know in comments!
Great review, Marie! This books looks absolutely fantastic.
Thank you so much Clem! I hope you’ll pick it up sometime and will love it as much as I did <3
Oh, I have been SO excited to read this, and your review made me even more ready! It seems like something I would just love and I’m so glad you did too!
Ahh I’m so happy to hear that <3 I hope you'll love it as much as I did when you read it 🙂
thank you so much for your sweet comment! <3
Thank you very much for this incredible review honey! I’ve been looking for books with Argentine characters, like me, so this will be perfect ??
Aw thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed my review <3 I hope you'll love the book, too! 🙂
I’ve never read this book or heard of it until now but I’ll definitely have to add it to my TBR and try to get my hands on it as quickly as I can because it sounds amazing! Great review as always!!
Ahh I’m so happy to hear this! I hope you’ll be able to read it soon and will love it 🙂
thank you so much! <3
Ohhhh what a good review!!
As you probably know, my mother got a kidney transplant (unknown donor) – so this is what attracts me to this too!!
Specially how this story is with a LIVING donor !!!
Aww I’m glad you enjoyed it Kristina, thank you so much <3 I hope you'll pick up this book at some point and will love it as much as I did 🙂
OK OK I already planned to read it so ….
YAY! I’m glad to hear it, hope you’ll love it Sophie 😀
Great review for this book Marie. 🙂 After your interview with the author yesterday I wanted to check out her books and reading this review has just made me want to read them even more. It sounds like this is an emotional read, but the fact that you rated it five stars means it was obviously well written.
Also this sounds like it has everything I love, positive representation, a great friendship and an interesting family dynamic. I am there! 😀
Again great review. 🙂 <3
Ahhh I’m so happy to hear that Beth <3 I have a feeling this could be the kind of book you'd love, too, it was such a great contemporary <3 I hope I'm not wrong haha 🙂
Thank you so much <3
After reading your interview with the author + your review I’m on for reading the book. You know how much I love characters and these, especially Sophie speak to me. Thanks for the excellent review Marie! ?❤️
Yay! My job here is done 😀 I’m so glad to hear this, I hope you will love the book when you can read it! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it 🙂
Thank you so much <3
Fantastic review, Marie! I think I said this in my previous comment (on your author interview post), but I read You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone last year and really enjoyed it! And I’m very very very excited to read Our Year of Maybe ? I’m so glad to hear that has all the feels, is character-focused, and has themes of friendship and identity. It definitely sounds like my type of book (I mean, it’s contemporary, so of course it would be right up my alley ??) Oh, and I love that you’re going to include a diversity category in your reviews from now on! This will definitely be helpful ?
Thank you so, SO much Dezzy, you’re always way too sweet to me, I don’t deserve your comments ahh?? I can’t WAIT to read the author’s debut, it sounds incredible and given how much I loved that one, I’m certain I will love her debut, too. I hope you’ll be able to read Our Year Of Maybe soon and please, keep me updated when you do, can’t wait to hear what you think ??
What a wonderful review, Marie! And you had already convinced me to read it earlier and now.. I just can’t wait.. but I don’t have the book right now ? Hopefully soon!
The synopsis is indeed unique and I love the books with strong friendships and characters. I am sure I am gonna love it as much as you did ☺️
Aww thank you! I hope you’ll be able to read the book soon and will love it just as much as I did ??
Considering how this all went down, I am surprised by how much I loved it. I loved reading about Peter getting to finally really live and imagine a future for the first time, but you know why I found it sort of bittersweet. Love the mood board, by the way. It’s perfect!
Aww thank you, so glad you liked it ? I’m with you, it was a bittersweet read, but I really adored it ?
Ohhh even that synopsis made my heart hurt – I can see why you had a good feeling about this one.
This sounds SO GOOD – I love what you said about the push and pull of their relationship. It’s one of the most painful things you can possibly go through when someone you love is pulling away from you and you realise the only choice left is to let them go. Ooooh.. I need this book, I think.
This was so, SO good, I feel like you could love this book! <3 I hope you'll pick it up at some point and will love it 🙂
Lovely review! So glad to see that you enjoyed this one, Marie! ❤️
Thank you so, so much Kelly! I hope you’ll give this one a try someday 🙂
this looks amazing!! I really like the cover of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone more tho lmao but ANYWAYS I love how the author is publishing books with Jewish representation bc there’s definitely not enough of that! Also, CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS? I NEED
Ahah I get that, I also prefer the cover for her debut novel, but that book was really, really good I LOVED IT. And yes I agree, it’s great to have more Jewish representation and her characters are just SO awesome overall. I hope you’ll love it! <3 <3
Thank you so much!
Ahhhh great review marie!! I’ve been looking for a good contemporary to read and I think this might be the ONE I pick up next. And the idea is so unique and fresh! Character focused books and healthy friendships? I’m so on boaaard. ❤
Oh thank you so, so much, so happy you enjoyed it! I hope you’ll pick it up soon and will love it as much as I did 😀
omg this story line sounds amazing! I’m going to add it to my list! I can’t wait to read it. I’ll let you know what I think about it once I finish it 🙂 xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
This was such a great book, I loved it! I hope you will too, Melina! Thank you so much <3
I love this review, Marie ❤️
It really makes me want to read it like immediately!
As I’ve mentioned in your author interview post I love the kidney transplant aspect of the story, it’s just so unique and interesting. I love that the friendship dynamics is so incredibly important but also that we get to know each of them individually.
I love all the different character representations and diversity. This really sounds like something I’d enjoy and I’m definitely planning on reading it ❤️
Aww thank you so much, this means so much, I’m so happy you liked my review <3 I can't wait for you to read it, I hope you'll love it as much as I did <3
aaah okay I must keep reading and ignore the call of the other books! hmm I really like the friendship between Jude and Mallory and Penny in Emergency Contact, though that wasn’t the heart of the story, and the twin-relationship/friendship in I am Rebecca.
Ohh, I haven’t read I am Rebecca, I’m curious about it now. I’ll have to check it out, thank you 😀
It’s so great this brought on the feels!! And it’s so awesome that it had all the right contemporary vibes- I definitely want to check it out now! Awesome review!
Ahhh yay, this makes me so happy 🙂 thank you so much! <3