Since You've Been Gone

I love Morgan Matson's books ... every single one. She has a way of capturing the anxiety and insecurity that goes along with the teen years in a way that few contemporary YA authors do. Instead of melodramatic or overly angst-filled plots, Morgan shows real people with real problems in fairly average situations. She manages to create characters who are flawed, yet easy to root for. I don't think that many books can compare to the epic experience I had after reading Morgan's 1st book Amy & Roger's Epic Detour. Loved that book! But this one comes pretty close. I really enjoyed the journey that Emily takes in this story.The story begins with Emily finding her bff gone. No trace is left of her friend at all. The only thing she receives is a note with a list of thirteen tasks for Emily to complete over the summer. Some seem a bit mundane, others seem horrifyingly difficult, and all of them require Emily to move out of her comfort zone and do something that she wouldn't normally do. She begins these tasks alone, and, oh man!, it could be hard reading about Emily at this point in the book. She is incredibly timid. Incredibly timid. Maybe I could see a lot of myself in Emily, making the story a bit too close to home for me, but I did struggle to read the beginning chapters of this book. Emily was so uncomfortable around every single person she encountered. She had spent years as her best friend, Sloan's, sidekick. No one knew her independently, and Emily didn't quite know how to function without Sloane at her side. But as the story progresses and Emily wills herself to complete these tasks, she finds out that she is strong and confident and able to stand on her own two feet in many situations. Emily's growth as a character is what this story is about. And I loved it.What I loved:Emily's friendships. Sloane is absent for much of this story. She is a product of flashbacks for the most part. The flashbacks show a relationship that is very different than the new friendships she forms with Frank and Dawn and Collins. I loved seeing the contrast, but I especially loved the bonds formed between these four friends. Emily's friendship with Frank takes center stage, and it was a sweet friendship. Frank has a girlfriend (supposedly an epic high school romance), so he is off limits. This is freeing for this friendship, allowing the two of them to relax and just be good friends. I appreciated that. Dawn and Collins were not as central to this story, but I liked their friendship as well ... even though both of them sort of end the book in a bum sort of way that I didn't really like so much. I wish that had been resolved somewhere in the story. Still, the story of these friendships was super sweet to read.Frank. Loved him! He is a high school superstar ... driven to succeed in so many things, the class president, one half of The Superstar Couple, friends with everyone. He and Emily barely know one another before the summer begins, but as the novel unfolds Emily comes to see that there is more to Frank than his labels. He and Emily form a wonderful bond, and he was super sweet always.Emily's character growth. Seeing the transformation of Emily into a confident and more secure young woman was satisfying. Morgan doesn't hit us over the head with this. We are just able to travel along on this journey of discovery that Emily takes. The best part of that journey is that Emily doesn't realize that this is the ultimate result she is looking for. She believes she is only looking for her friend, but she instead finds herself. I really, really liked this.For those looking for a sweet contemporary YA romance I highly recommend this one. And if you haven't read any of the other Morgan Matson books, check them out. They are among my favorite YA contemporary books. Five stars for this one!

3.5-4 stars1. Kiss a stranger2. Go skinny-dipping3. Steal something4. Break something5. Penelope6. Ride a dern horse, ya cowpoke7. 55 S. Ave. Ask for Mona8. The Backless Dress.and somewhere to wear it9. Dance until dawn10. Share some secrets in the dark11. Hug a Jamie12. Apple picking at night13. Sleep under the starsFor the last two years, Em and Sloane have been the best of friends. So when Em returns home after a family trip to discover that Sloane and her family have completely disappeared, she’s beyond shocked. Even more so when a list comes in the mail in Sloane’s handwriting, detailing what Em is supposed to do for the summer. Left without any other options, Em follows the instructions and discovers that she may be just as strong on her own as she is with her friend. Em gets a job, begins new friendships, hangs out with her brother and more in the summer she never expected to have.A great story about self discovery and how we can often left our friends define who we are instead of defining ourselves. Em’s journey was fascinating, even if it’s from the perspective of a lost sixteen year old girl. Watching Em grow as a character is the best part about this book, and how she finds her inner strength to explore her past decisions and makes better future ones based on it. All of the side characters were very well developed and never felt one dimensional; they read like people the reader would meet in real life instead of a flat character in a book.One criticism to be noted on this work is the length. It was about 450 pages which can be daunting. Also when reading, there seemed to be a lot of details on places/people/things that weren’t extremely important to the book. For tweens who are reluctant readers this would not be ideal. For voracious teen readers it shouldn’t be a problem. This book may be for the older tweens, but the content was fairly clean. Not too many curse words, and no more than a few kisses in the romance department

Es un libro que te atrapa y te deja con ganas de más. Excelente narrativa y sencillo de leer! Lo recomiendo mucho!!!

Morgan Matson is one of my favorite author and I think this is the best book by her so far.This is the story of Emily, a very shy and introverted girl, whose best friend Sloane goes away suddenly one summer. She leaves no explanation about why she left or where she went but she leaves a list behind for Emily. The list consists of things to do like go skinny dipping, steal something, ride a horse, etc. Emily decides to do the tasks in the list in a hope to find her best friend. In the process she befriends Frank Porter, and together they embark on an adventurous summer filled with running, theater, ice cream, and coming out of the shell.The reason why this book is one of my favorites of all time is I can connect to Emily on a spiritual level. She is this super shy, introverted girl (like me) who goes on a adventure without her best friend and does things that she never did before. I loved seeing Emily come out of her shell by doing the things mentioned in Sloane's list and becoming more confident and free. It's amazing to see how she overcomes her shyness and her fears, and becomes stronger.Also it's amazing to see her friendship with Frank build gradually and become something more. Emily and Frank have different personalities and yet it's so refreshing to see these two characters build an unlikely friendship and care for one another. I loved their friendship, it's like they were meant for one another.Sloane, on the hand, was very selfish in my opinion. I did not like her character a lot as much I loved Emily and Frank. Sloane was selfish to have left her best friend behind without saying anything and also for not being honest with Emily in the first place. But I'm glad Emily didn't hold any grudge against her and they were reunited in the end.This is one of the best and refreshing summer contemporaries I've ever read. This book is perfect. Would highly highly recommend it.

Lo compré en Navidades como regalo a mi hermana y la verdad es que le gustó mucho, perfecto para regalar.

leitura muito gostosa, super fácil e rápida. os livros da morgan matson são todos muito bons. vale a pena leitura.

I love this book for many reasons, here are a few:-The main character is so lovable! You can really relate to her situation.-The boy is just perfect, ugh.-There are musical playlists in the book! For those who read while listening to music, this is just great! And, we learn more about their personalities with the playlists.-The side characters are so funny and endearing!I definitely recommend if you want a nice summer contemporary read!