Emmy & Oliver

By: Robin Benway

Narrated by: Phoebe Strole

Emmy and Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy's soul, despite the space and time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?

Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. . . . She wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her parents' relentless worrying. But Emmy's parents can't seem to let her grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.

Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart. . . . He'd thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew that it was his father who had kidnapped him and kept him on the run. Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at once, has his heart racing, and his thoughts swirling.

Readers who love Sarah Dessen will devour these pages with hearts in throats as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of Oliver's father's crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an unforgettable story.

The fights were on point

I loved the whole thing but the pausing at the periods were way to long it made me a little mad.

Good book!

its really a predictable love story... but still a good story. I enjoyed reading this book.

Enjoyable Listen

Enjoyable story that was wroth the credit. I'm really glad I listened to it and would recommend it to others.

Amazing story!

It was not predictable, the ending is perfect and wraps up the miny stories through out the book. I cried my eyes out during the last few minutes of the last chapter, but happy tears!

Compelling

Grade: B

After Emmy's next door neighbor and best friend Oliver is kidnapped by his father when they're seven, their whole small town changes. Her parents become controlling and overprotective, and Emmy feels an emptiness that nothing can fill. When Oliver returns ten years later, different yet the same, she wonders of if their friendship can resume, or maybe something more.

I only purchased EMMY & OLIVER because Amazon had the novel on sale for $1.99, thinking it would be a meh read, but finished this delightful story in a day. Although there were few surprises and not much happened, I enjoyed the characters' growth and maturation.

I loved Emmy's voice, the writing felt organic and held my interest. Even though I cringed when she constantly lied to her parents, I could understand her motivation since they treated her more like she was ten than seventeen. Oliver was very sympathetic and all of his emotions and thoughts made sense. Their sidekicks were interesting as well. The adults felt a little cliché.

The ending, while possible seemed unlikely but I can't say more without spoiling.

THEMES: friendship, romance, LGBT, kidnapping

EMMY & OLIVER is a compelling story about how one boy's disappearance and return as a young man rocks two families. I will look for other Robin Benway books in the future.