Pages: 395
Published: 29th April 2022
Genre: Young Adult
Content warnings: Child neglect
Ariel’s accidental meeting with a handsome stranger called Joe is completely perfect; they have a connection like she’s never known before. They exchange numbers and agree to meet when he is back from a trip to France. But when Ariel messages him, the number Joe gave her is disconnected. He’s ghosted her. She assumes she will never see him again.
Except she does. Again and again.
Ariel returns to the place she and Joe met, and is stunned to find him there, not in France as he said he’d be, and behaving as if he has no idea who she is.
It turns out that their first meeting has been life-changing for them both, actually it’s even more than that for Joe. But what do you do when – with every day that passes – you’re literally growing apart from the best person you’ve ever known . . . ?
This is a love story with a timey-wimey twist, and an extremely bittersweet one at that. A unique concept is approached skilfully by an author who always thinks a little outside of the box in the young adult contemporary genre, this time starring two characters who both possess intriguing backgrounds but with one fundamental difference. One is alive and the other is unknowingly dead.
Unlike Barr’s previous books there is no fancy overseas setting; instead most of it takes place in a standard English town with a run-down shopping centre. However, that lack of a stunning backdrop actually accentuates the quality of the plot and makes it strangely captivating, especially when we learn the reality of Joe’s existence and the mystery surrounding his death.
The emotion and intrigue of this book comes from the not knowing what happened to him, and Ariel’s attempts to piece the story together. It is a mystery with enough curious elements to really draw you in, and seeing Ariel track down his family and find out what the living Joe was like lends a real depth that tugs at your emotions.
Ariel has so much going on in her life too – indeed the book begins with her selfish father basically abandoning her to be cared for by her pregnant older sister. So when she meets Joe, she is drifting in a different way and in him she finds a sense of purpose, yet what stands out most about Ariel is her unending optimism and bright personality, which is offset by the low-key quirkiness of Joe.
On that basis you can surmise that both are likeable characters, and it is true, they very much are. But when they come together, their collective endeavours to solve Joe’s mystery is easily what carries us through the story, for the romance is its biggest weakness. The author seems to be aiming for cute, but instead the outcome is something that veers into the more sickly side of sweet, with some cringeworthy dialogue in there for good measure.
That feeling is hard to escape while reading the book, as it slightly undermines all the other aspects which make it enjoyable. The whole twist on the concept of being ghosted by someone, that is a magnificent idea and the permanent time-loop Joe finds himself in, very smartly conceived and written in an engaging way that never becomes annoyingly repetitive.
Overall, the ideas that go into this book are fresh and at times even ingenious, yet although there is to much to like about both main characters and a surprising amount of emotional heft, their romance just does not hit the right notes. Unlike some other books, that is not an easy issue to ignore here, but if you are able to do that the mystery offers rich rewards – even with the inevitable promise of a sad conclusion.
This was an enjoyable read and I loved trying to unpick the mystery of what happened to Joe. I had no problem with the romance as a concept, but the execution was not quite there for me.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Stephen Reads Books 