Book Review: Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook

Nobody But Us

By Kristin Halbrook

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Source: Library

Summary: 
Will

Maybe I'm too late. Maybe Zoe's dad stole all her fifteen years and taught her to be scared. I'll undo it. Help her learn to be strong again, and brave. Not that I'm any kind of example, but we can learn together.

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can't run fast enough.

Zoe

Maybe it'll take Will years to come to terms with being abandoned. Maybe it'll take forever. I'll stay with him no matter how long it takes to prove that people don't always leave, don't always give up on you.

Review: I was SO excited to read this book. I mean, look at that cover! And I'm a sucker for a good contemporary novel and this one looked amazing. It makes me so sad that I really didn't like how this one turned out. This definitely went places I was not expecting and I wasn't a big fan of how it all panned out. 

Zoe and Will both come from rough homes; Will has gone from foster home to foster home while Zoe's been living with an abusive dad. But when Will notices Zoe at school and they start to get closer, Will decides it's time to take Zoe away from her old life and start over together. So one night, they hop in the car and drive. But running away isn't as easy as it seems and reality comes crashing down on them. No matter how far or fast Zoe and Will run, the past will always be there to haunt them. 

The synopsis of this book screams romance, but the relationship between Will and Zoe was just too juvenile. Zoe is only 15 and Will is 18, and you can really tell how immature Zoe is. She even has a tantrum in the middle of the book where she says she knows she acting like a kid, but it feels good. Ummm no. I'm sorry, but I don't want to read about a little girl who gets upset over the littlest things. And Will is so self deprecating. It seems like every other page he talks about how he's not good enough for Zoe and how she deserves better. We got it after the first two times, buddy. 

Then there's the fighting. For some reason, Will can't seem to keep his hands to himself and has to get into a fight over EVERYTHING. His actions seemed a little excessive and ridiculous, so when they kept on happening, I got a little annoyed. Not only did Will constantly fight, but his relationship with Zoe had so many ups and downs. One minuted their yelling at each other and the next they're giggling like 5-year-olds. And then they're fighting again. And then they're making up. Their bipolar relationship seemed really juvenile and I was tired of constantly going up and down with their emotions. 

What looked like such a promising story fell seriously flat for me. And by the time I got through the ending, I was not a fan of the characters or the story. I know the story was supposed to be all deep and emotional, but the plot was stuffed with so many problems and issues that there was barely any time to take a breath. So if you're looking for a good summer contemporary read, I'd skip over this one.