In The Orbit of You
– Ashley Schumacher –
Wednesday Books
Published 19 March 2024
♥♥♥♥/♥
I have very mixed feelings about In the Orbit of You. On one hand, I totally adored this story, loved every minute of its torturous tension and yet heartwarming tale.
The writing is addictive, the characters loveable and the ending is unexpected and very clever. But on the other hand, looking back at the story and some of the key plot points, I really have an issue with the themes of cheating and how it is handled. The story could have been so much better if Nova and Sam had made different choices. But maybe that’s the point of the story? But they don’t show much regret, just rely on other characters’ generosity and kindness to excuse their choices. They are not choices I really want to put in front of my students and say, “here’s a great way to live your life”, because it’s not, it’s not okay and it’s not okay to say that it is okay. So, hence my mixed feelings. It’s certainly a book that needs to be discussed and debriefed after reading.
Nova has been on the move all her life, moving for her mother’s job. So, it’s a shock when at her new school, she sees a boy from her childhood. Her best friend, playmate and the boy who disappeared suddenly. Sam Jordan knows he is lucky. Lucky to have a beautiful girlfriend and great friends. Lucky to be good at football, good enough to have his choice of scholarships. And especially lucky to have been rescued from his abusive childhood home, to have loving parents now. If he wants something else from life, who is he to ask for more than he already has? But when Nova renters his life, it brings his past back and he starts to question if the perfect life is what he really wants.
Reader, this is not the story you are expecting. It’s different, unique, heartbreaking, surprising, challenging, disappointing, addictive and so much more. I couldn’t put it down.
The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.
More information
Category: Young Adult Fiction
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Age guide: 13 and up
Themes: Family, friendship, relationships, abuse, cheating, football.
Published: 19 February 2024 by Wednesday Books
Format: Hardcover, ebook. 320 pages.
ISBN: 9781250886040
Hi Madison, I really enjoy your blog. Wondering how you arrange for the advanced reader copies of books from publishers? …and do you get to keep them?
Hi Kylie, Thanks for your kind words. The majority of advance reader copies I read are eARCs. I access these through Netgalley and Edelweiss Plus. They expire automatically, so I don’t keep them, even in digital form. My school library does get a few physical ARCs through our local bookshop thanks to the relationship my #AmazingLibraryTech has built with them and a couple of publishers send me physical copies. We give any physical ARCs away to students.
I loved this book I just don’t like how stubborn Nova and Sam were they were always saying one thing and doing the other but it’s a beautiful book I love the romance and how they meet that’s friendship real friendship