Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick

Summary:

“You think he’s yours but he’s not, I thought. You think he’s yours but really he’s mine.”

When Holly loses her virginity to Paul, a guy she barely knows, she assumes their encounter is a one-night stand. After all, Paul is too popular to even be speaking to Holly, and he happens to have a long-term girlfriend, Saskia. But ever since Holly’s mom died six months ago, Holly has been numb to the world, and she’s getting desperate to feel something, anything—so when Paul keeps pursuing her, Holly relents. Paul’s kisses are a welcome diversion, and it’s nice to feel like the kind of girl that a guy like Paul would choose.

But things aren’t so simple with Saskia around. Paul’s real girlfriend is willowy and perfect… and nothing like Holly. To make matters worse, she and Holly are becoming friends. Suddenly the consequences of Holly’s choices are all too real, and Holly stands to lose more than she ever realized she had.

Review:

Lauren Strasnick's debut novel, Nothing Like You, had me breathless by the end. It was just that good, no scratch that, amazing!

Holly is the girl that anyone can see a piece of herself in. Lost a parent? She has too. Hooked up with someone you really shouldn't have? Ditto. Betrayed your best friend? Same. Well, you get the picture, she was someone who was very real. Though, with saying that, I still wanted to hit her over the head at times when she continued to see Paul even though you knew he wasn't going to break up with Saskia. The other characters, such as Saskia and Nils, were the same way. They were funny, sweet, and honest which made it a toatal blast to read about them.

I loved the plot. Since, even though it was a wee bit predictable at times, it still moved in a way that made you want to keep flipping the pages to find out what happened next. Plus, Lauren Strasnick's writing was fabulous!

Sadly, the ending was what brought it down to the B+ grade for me. I had something totally different and more happy in mind for it, though Lauren took the chance to surprise which made it a bit too unhappy and open for my liking. Though, now that I think about it, I guess I do see the reason for it. Since, this novel's main message was about how time can heal anything and how you can loose someone but still be okay.

Overall, Nothing Like You is happy, sad, funny, and heartbreaking all in one, making it yet another a fablous 2009 debut! I look forward to seeing what Lauren comes up witth next.

Grade: B+

Nothing Like You will be realeased October 20, 2009.

* Much thanks to Lauren Stransnick as well as Simon and Schuster for sending me this!