Book Review: You Then, Me Now by Nick Alexander

You Me, Then Now
Nick Alexander
Lake Union Publishing
Pub date: 1st May 2019

Contains spoilers.

I was looking for my next 'light read' and this fit the bill perfectly. Set in the beautiful Greek island of Santorini, it follows the lives of Laura and her daughter Becky as they embark on the holiday of a lifetime in the hopes of rekindling their mother-daughter relationship. But Becky has another motive - finding out who her father is. All of her life, it's been just Becky and her Mum, with Laura managing to avoid every question and every attempt of Becky's to broach the subject of her Dad. After a couple of weeks relaxation in Greece, will Laura's resolve soften and will Becky finally discover the secret of who her Dad is?

This was a slow burner for me, but by the end I was totally invested! Initially, I found Laura quite annoying. She seemed totally wishy-washy, no real personality, no oomph. But learning about her strict religious upbringing and the hardships she endured helped to put this into perspective and explain the things that influenced the adult, and the mother, she became. Similarly, I found Becky's almost juvenile attitude to the whole thing quite off-putting. Of course she's frustrated not knowing the identity of her father, but when she finally meets him, her disappointment that he's just an 'ordinary guy' and not the superhero she had boasted to her friends about grated on my nerves. This sort of attitude would be expected from a child, but Becky is in her twenties and her pettiness really jarred.

I wish Laura had had a bit more gusto when it came to her relationship with Connor. He hits her when they're out at a bar and he's drunk, and she runs away back to the apartment to get away from him. But even though she claims to be so terrified, she goes to bed and sleeps the whole night, and the next morning has a shower, does her makeup, and sits on the balcony admiring the view. Surely you'd just pack your bags and leave if you were that scared that he'd return at any moment?

Some aspects of the novel seemed a little far-fetched (pushing someone off a cliff and there being zero consequences?) but overall this was a good book that I enjoyed. I loved the exploration of the mother-daughter bond and how Becky and Laura come to understand each other's point of view and way of seeing things.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a review.