What do you think?
Rate this book
Some Place Better Than Here
It’s early summer, and in a small community on the central Jersey Shore, a black car screeches to a halt outside the Wright Bros grocery. Danny looks up from where he’s working at the carwash to see the driver rifle out of the car and chase a girl rushing into the store.
For some reason—fate perhaps or intuition—he decides to cross the lot and investigate. When he meets Mary, there is a great deal Danny doesn’t know, but he certainly knows that he’s been struck. For it’s like the keys to an old car had been dropped into his hands and is about to start the engine that will forever alter the outcome of their lives.
Some Place Better Than Here is a gritty, unflinching look at how we define family and come to grips with loss. It’s about growing up in a small town, following your dreams, and mapping out the uneven ground that often lays between love, friendship and sexual awakening.
For some reason—fate perhaps or intuition—he decides to cross the lot and investigate. When he meets Mary, there is a great deal Danny doesn’t know, but he certainly knows that he’s been struck. For it’s like the keys to an old car had been dropped into his hands and is about to start the engine that will forever alter the outcome of their lives.
Some Place Better Than Here is a gritty, unflinching look at how we define family and come to grips with loss. It’s about growing up in a small town, following your dreams, and mapping out the uneven ground that often lays between love, friendship and sexual awakening.
399 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 3, 2017
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 4, 2017
Equal parts hopeful and heartbreaking, Some Place Better than Here is the story of two teens who would rather be some place, any place, that’s better than what they have now.
First loves are always the hardest, and the relationship between Mary and Danny is a perfect example. What initially brought them together wasn’t anything special or extraordinary, but it’s their shared history and past experience of heartbreak and loss that acts as an invisible thread that ties them together, and it’s also the thing that tears them apart. Ghosts from their pasts, and in Mary’s case - ghosts from the past, present, and probably future, if the cycle of abuse is anything to measure by, are always close at hand and it seems neither one of them can outrun their pasts and will eventually have to confront them if they ever want to move forward. Being a teenager is hard, especially during that incredibly complicated space between graduation and The Rest of Your Life, and Wakil certainly added a very realistic quality to both the characters and their situations.
My one complaint with Some Place Better than here was the often heavy-handed use of description, which had the tendency to bog down many passages within the novel. Entire paragraphs of the way light was shining, or in one case, paragraphs, plural, of putting a single braid in someone’s hair. I’m a fan of description, but sometimes less really is more. That, and the use of adjectives such as “gay” and “retarded”. I know that’s how some teens speak, even still in 2017, but it’s certainly something that falls under the author’s responsibility to recognize that said terms are insulting to many, including teenagers, and eliminate them.
I liked the characters for the most part, but I have to say I was particularly fond of Mary. Famous for her Bitch Face and accompanying attitude of Queen Bitch, and both were wholly appropriate, although it becomes readily apparent that said face and said attitude are carefully constructed armor, put in place to both shield her and fool others. But there was instance where she definitely didn’t feel genuine, and that was when she was accusing Danny of “almost putting his hands on her”, yet she was still comfortable enough to have sex with him. The almost-abuse felt like a cheap plot device for conflict, where it was a big deal only as a matter of convenience.
All in all, Some Place Better than Here was an enjoyable novel that paints a realistic portrayal of navigating life on the brink of adulthood and how the past will eventually muck up the future if it’s never fully recognized. The romance was equal parts sweet and sad and certainly the highlight. And although I had some grievances with certain areas of the book, it’s still one I’d recommend. 3.5 stars.
* I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
First loves are always the hardest, and the relationship between Mary and Danny is a perfect example. What initially brought them together wasn’t anything special or extraordinary, but it’s their shared history and past experience of heartbreak and loss that acts as an invisible thread that ties them together, and it’s also the thing that tears them apart. Ghosts from their pasts, and in Mary’s case - ghosts from the past, present, and probably future, if the cycle of abuse is anything to measure by, are always close at hand and it seems neither one of them can outrun their pasts and will eventually have to confront them if they ever want to move forward. Being a teenager is hard, especially during that incredibly complicated space between graduation and The Rest of Your Life, and Wakil certainly added a very realistic quality to both the characters and their situations.
My one complaint with Some Place Better than here was the often heavy-handed use of description, which had the tendency to bog down many passages within the novel. Entire paragraphs of the way light was shining, or in one case, paragraphs, plural, of putting a single braid in someone’s hair. I’m a fan of description, but sometimes less really is more. That, and the use of adjectives such as “gay” and “retarded”. I know that’s how some teens speak, even still in 2017, but it’s certainly something that falls under the author’s responsibility to recognize that said terms are insulting to many, including teenagers, and eliminate them.
I liked the characters for the most part, but I have to say I was particularly fond of Mary. Famous for her Bitch Face and accompanying attitude of Queen Bitch, and both were wholly appropriate, although it becomes readily apparent that said face and said attitude are carefully constructed armor, put in place to both shield her and fool others. But there was instance where she definitely didn’t feel genuine, and that was when she was accusing Danny of “almost putting his hands on her”, yet she was still comfortable enough to have sex with him. The almost-abuse felt like a cheap plot device for conflict, where it was a big deal only as a matter of convenience.
All in all, Some Place Better than Here was an enjoyable novel that paints a realistic portrayal of navigating life on the brink of adulthood and how the past will eventually muck up the future if it’s never fully recognized. The romance was equal parts sweet and sad and certainly the highlight. And although I had some grievances with certain areas of the book, it’s still one I’d recommend. 3.5 stars.
* I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
February 14, 2018
I wanted to love this book, but I also don’t hate it. I had a hard time getting into it. Once act one was complete I was onboard. All the way up to the Epilogue, at which point I just wanted to finish reading because I have already invested in 380ish pages at that point.
I enjoyed the characters thoroughly though. They genuinely reminded me of people I once knew. They were messy, and vulgar. They had emotions, and thoughts. It was also refreshing to see some mental illness and dysfunctional people that weren’t played up. Their archetypes made sense.
Overall, this book was OK. I don’t imagine I will read anything else by this author though.
I enjoyed the characters thoroughly though. They genuinely reminded me of people I once knew. They were messy, and vulgar. They had emotions, and thoughts. It was also refreshing to see some mental illness and dysfunctional people that weren’t played up. Their archetypes made sense.
Overall, this book was OK. I don’t imagine I will read anything else by this author though.
Read
August 2, 2020DNFed at 10%. Didn't like the characters at all.
March 6, 2018
I love how relatable the characters and issues in this book are. While it is a love story, it also deals with family drama, loss, and the desire to know what else lies beyond childhood. The writing is descriptive and, at times, poetic. This is truly one of the best books I've read in my early adult life.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews