Toxic friendships are a very real thing. Which is part of why I really loved OVER YOU by Amy Reed. Unlike the title might suggest, this isn't a story of getting over a boy, but finding one's own identity despite the best friend who can't seem to let you be yourself.

The first half of OVER YOU is told in second person. The protagonist, Max, narrates to her best friend, the spontaneous and adorable Sadie. And Sadie is Max's world. Max doesn't seem to know how this happened, but they've been best friends for so long, and Max needs to be Sadie's friend because Sadie can't survive without Max. So when Sadie decides to go live with her absentee mom at a commune in the middle of nowhere for the summer, Max goes along. And it's not long before things start to change.

First, there's the fact that Sadie's mom manages to still be kind of absent. And then there's the fact that Max is way better than she'd ever imagined at connecting with people. Like Dylan. Dylan for whom Max is falling hard. Max isn't used to getting the guy. And Sadie isn't used to not getting what she wants. These girls are about to hit an obstacle that neither of them expected, but which both of them desperately need.

Amy Reed's elegant prose is the perfect vessel for a story that so many real life girls experience, and one that needs to be told as much as the characters in OVER YOU needed to experience in the novel. This is a book that I'm hoping to see on lots of "must read" lists, both informal and authoritative. Amy Reed is a genius, and I can't wait to see what she does next. ( )

2.5 Stars
Sadie and Max are best friends. In fact, Max's whole life has pretty much revolved around Sadie....looking out for her, being her best friend, always putting her first. When she accompanies Sadie to Nebraska for a visit with her mother, who has been absent from Sadie's life for the most part, things begin to change. First of all, they find themselves on a commune of sorts. Then they meet bad boy Dylan, who they both like. One thing leads to another, and Max soon finds out she must discover who she is apart from and without Sadie.

The synopsis for this book sounded pretty good and I was looking forward to reading it, but unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. The point of view that the story was told from was a bit confusing. It was told from Max's point of view, and she would refer to herself as I, but she also referred to Sadie as you, like she was talking to her in the narration, which in turn made me feel like she was talking to me and I was Sadie. I just wasn't crazy about this. Nevertheless, this is the writing style the author chose to use for this book. I haven't read anything else by Amy Reed, but have heard good things about her. Secondly, I just didn't like Max or Sadie too much, which is just my personal opinion of course. Max didn't impress me and Sadie was a kind of a brat. The commune itself was really just a bunch of modern day hippies, ranging from young to old. There was drugs, partying, drinking, etc. going on quite a bit. It kind of reminded me of one of those placed that winds up on the news, and not in a good way. Then there was the love interest, Dylan, who is personified as a bad boy. Usually, I love the bad boys, but Dylan did nothing for me. He was just a jerk all the way around.

Overall, I wasn't crazy about this story, but I have seen mixed reviews, some of which were positive. My advice to you is to go to goodreads and check the reviews out for yourself. Even though I wasn't crazy about it, you may like it, especially if you are a fan of this author. ( )

The perspective in this one threw me at first, but not enough to put it down. The point of view is just weird. It is from Max's pov, so she is the "I" but it is also second person because Sadie is
"you". So it is like she is writing a letter, or telling the story to us, but as the reader we are in Sadie's pov. Like I said, confusing, but I got used to it. It also changed at about the halfway point because Sadie got sick.
Oh, and I didn't like the things at the beginning of chapters. I have seen lots of authors use a short quote, but this was like page or more long of stuff about the goddess and stuff, and it just wasn't my style, so I skipped over it. I do think it is neat in theory because Max is interested in the classics as for literature and she grew up hearing myths.
The setting is also unique. Sadie and Max are on a commune, what her called an intentional community." They chose to live a different way, and they chose to be around each other, sharing the work, the places to sleep, cook, eat and shower. The animals, and the people help Max to learn so much about herself and realize what she wants changed and how she needs to change for that to happen.
One of those things is the codependency and her need to rescue Sadie from herself. I don't think that she fully gets there, but over the course of the book she definitely starts changing the friendship to a more healthy and standing up for herself more. So, in the end, I feel like there is so much hope and promise for Max's future and what she learned over the summer.
This is a book for mature teens only because it deals with drinking, marijuana use, language, codependency, and some sexual situations. Nothing is too explicit though. The drinking goes a little far, but it comes with consequences, it shows how scared Max is when Sadie over does it or makes poor decisions because of it.
The ending wasn't as wrapped up as I'd have liked it, but like I said it does end at a good spot, where Max is making a huge stand for herself. She is going back to figure out if she can piece together the mess that is her family, because she'd neglected them to some extent for Sadie, and I think that is a good first step. She will def have to stay strong though because if she let them, they could be the next place where she self sacrifices herself.


Bottom Line: Over You is a dark, gritty but realistic book that had some powerful themes and messages. ( )