Her and Me and You by Lauren Strasnick

Her and Me and You
Lauren Strasnick
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: October 5, 2010
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 224
Source: Bought

I met Fred first.

Fred: Hot. Enigmatic. Alex’s first friend in her lonely new town. Maybe her first…everything.

I met Adina the following Monday.

Adina: Fred’s twin sister. Cold. Troubled. Trouble.

I kissed him.

She pressed her mouth to my mouth.

People warn Alex to steer clear of the twins, but Alex is drawn to them. She wants to be part of their crazy world…no matter the consequences.

Alex leaves everything she's ever known when she moves out with her mother and her father's girlfriend moves in. Alex's mom is an utter disaster - literally drowning her sorrows in alcohol - and Alex must forget her own sadness to take care of her. Her only "friend" at her new school is the daughter of one her mom's high school classmates, and the distance proves to be too much for Alex's best friend Evie causing added stress. Alex is soon seduced by the Bishop twins, a reclusive pair of siblings avoided by most of the school.

Fred introduces himself to Alex at a party. He seems intrigued by her elusiveness, and he and his sister Adina begin seeking Alex out at school. Ignoring the warnings from other classmates, Alex starts hanging out with Fred and Adina at lunch and after school. She discovers many oddities about the twins, and although she has a bit of a crush on Fred, Adina keeps getting in the way. Unsure if there is actually something wrong or if it's just a struggle for attention, Alex is frustrated by Adina's antics and her control over Fred.

This book is certainly different. Really a novella, Her and Me and You is a relatively short story about Alex's changing relationships with her family and best friend and her growing attraction to the Bishop twins. I completely understand Alex's fascination as Fred and Adina are the forbidden fruit of this novel: as life around her falls apart, Alex allows herself to be intrigued and seduced by the mysteriousness of the twins. However, I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of plot. The story, characters, and writing are all fantastic, but nothing really...happens. Even the ending is left a bit too open for my liking.

Lauren Strasnick is an amazing writer: she pulled me in from the very first page. I'm looking forward to reading her debut, Nothing Like You, which I've heard nothing but great things about. While Her and Me and You isn't exactly the book I thought it would be, I am sure others will enjoy it more than I did, and I look forward to anything she publishes in the future.