Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books

I first found out about this novel on Edelweiss and I skipped it back then because it didn't seem like anything special. But then I started hearing things from friends and it was nothing but praise. I absolutely had to read this book, so I went back to Edelweiss and got my review copy and I buddy read it with Nick and here I am now. And I loved it!

Emmy and Oliver were best friends until, ten years ago, Oliver was kidnapped by his dad. Now he has returned after all this time and things are different. Emmy's parents are very strict since Oliver's disappearance and Oliver had thought his dad was the good buy all these years. He never knew that it was his dad who kidnapped him. When he discovered, he returned to his hometown and his mom seems to treat him like the boy he was ten years ago. Are Emmy and Oliver still the friends they used to be or maybe more? Or nothing at all?

If you're looking for a contemporary novel full of drama, this one is not for you. I get that the blurb may make it sound like that, but it's really not. It's a very quiet story. Just these kids going about their every day. And you know, trying to get over the trauma of the past ten years. I really liked that and I read it in a couple of hours. It was very sweet and touching and very well-written. The romance was also very cute and perfectly paced.

The characters and the dialogue are the best thing about this book. I loved Emmy, Oliver, Caro and Drew. They were so great! Emmy and Oliver were perfect together, Caro was a great friend and Drew was so adorable! What did bring this book down a bit were the parents. I didn't like how they acted. I get it in a way, I really do, but it was just too much and I was so frustrated reading about them!

In the end I would say that Emmy & Oliver is a very good and cute story perfect to read on a lazy summer afternoon. And thus, I recommend it to fans of contemporary who are looking for just that.

This review is also (or -soon- will be) posted on Istyria book blog