Story analysis: I enjoyed that we got to know some of Jhett’s friends as well as Jhett during this book. Given, it was from Jhett’s perspective, but I still feel like we got to know Kia, Danielle, Clarissa, and Emma a bit as well. The story progressed nicely and didn’t get hung up on plot points too much, although I would have appreciated a quicker breakup with Sai. We didn’t need it to drag out while Jhett was talking, and seeing, Roo. Which brings me to Jhett’s character. I’m fully aware nobody is perfect, and I feel like this is a fair representation of the dating life of a 20-something, but Jhett wasn’t entirely repeatable to me. For the most part, she was. But then she has an emotional affair with Roo while still dating Sai. She knew she wasn’t going to stay with Sai, so why drag it out while continuing to talk to and meet up with Roo? I feel like she would call a friend out for that behavior, but it didn’t seem to stop her. Then she goes and sleeps with Jordan right after Roo wasn’t returning her calls and texts? She was livid of a past relationship with Angie that Roo didn’t fully disclose, but then has a very brief fling with Danielle’s cousin that she was warned to stay away from? Strike 2 Jhett; your behavior, while probably typical, is not something you would condone your significant other or close friends doing, so don’t try to justify it. Being fair, knowing she has these flaws makes her relatable and human. But this is a book and I want to like my main character (or hate them). I feel no strong emotion to her.
Grammar: I hate this about myself, but any punctuation and grammar errors jump out at me. There were a lot of instances that the beginning or ending quotation marks were dropped during speaking parts. There was also at least one name inconsistency that jumped out at me, but I really think there was a second one. The one I’m thinking of is after Danielle and Ben break up, and and I believe Danielle is having her house warming party. I don’t have the book on me while I’m writing this, but I believe it says Kia and Ben were off together. Clearly it meant James since Ben wasn’t at the party and James is Kia’s beau, but I did reread that sentence a few times because my brain just couldn’t compute it.
Overall, I am so glad that I was gifted With You and Remarkably You for Christmas. It’s so nice as a northern Wisconsin girl to have read a local author and enjoyed the story like I did.