{Review}: Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook

Nobody But Us
by Kristin Halbrook
Release Date: January 29, 2013
by HarperTeen
Pages: 304
Will
Maybe I'm too late. Maybe Zoe's dad stole all her fifteen years and taught her to be scared. I'll undo it. Help her learn to be estrong again, and brave. Not that I'm any kind of example, but we can learn together. When the whole world is after you, sometimes it feels like you can't run fast enough.

Zoe
Maybe it'll take Will years to come to terms with being abandoned. Maybe it'll take forever. I'll stay with him no matter how long it takes to prove that people don't always leave, don't always give up on you.

*This review contains a spoiler, but I have marked it off with a bracket*

I don't usually go for books like these--sad, heartbreaking; the main topic being romance. The subject matter is completely outside of my comfort zone as well. But the synopsis sounded really interesting, and I'd seen some reviews that captured my attention. So I decided to read it, even though I was a little nervous. I wasn't really sure what to expect. And for a debut novel, this book was impressive.

I have a few complaints about this book though. For one thing, the romance.  I certainly don't know what it's like to be in love, nor do I expect myself to. When I figured out that Zoe was only 15, I had to pause for a second as I did the math. She's 15, Will is 18, I'm 13...15 seems young doesn't it? I mean, of course teenage girls can have silly, giggly schoolgirl fantasies (believe me, I've had my fair share of those), but don't you think 15 is a little young to be thinking seriously about love, marriage, and sex? Especially with a guy who is 3 years older than you. I guess it just weirded me out a little; maybe I'll understand when I'm older or something like that. Another thing I was not a fan of, was Zoe. I disliked her weakness. I know that her life really sucked, and that she'd been through a lot, but she seemed too delicate and vulnerable and Will seemed too powerful and overprotective, which I hated. In good relationships these days, the girl has to be as much of an influence as the guy. This book lacked that, and it disappointed me. [[I did admire the decision that Zoe made at the end, which required some smartness and showed that she wasn't exactly some china doll waiting to break into pieces]]. Despite the considerable age gap between Will and Zoe, however, I loved their relationship. It wasn't forced or fake, and the romance developed over the course of the book. Even though they hadn't known each other for that long before they decided to run off, it didn't seem like a case of insta-love because they only really started to love each other about halfway through the book, or at least it seemed that way to me.

Besides these things, this book was superb. The premise was brilliantly conveyed and the writing was flawless.  I usually don't go for books with alternating perspectives, but for this book it worked really well. I loved the way that Halbrook painted a picture for you. The plot, the characters--they were all crystal clear. I couldn't put this book down, I finished it in two sittings and just lay there in shock after I finished it. The ending was emotional and powerful and didn't seem forced in the least bit.  I don't usually cry during books, and I didn't cry during this book, but the ending was definitely tear-worthy.

I was pretty torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars, but I've decided on 3 stars. I enjoyed this book a lot, but I think that it had some potential that Halbrook just didn't take enough advantage of. Halbrook did do an excellent job of just diving in--some debut authors close their books in a wimpy way, but Halbrook went out with a total bang and I loved that. I don't think I've ever read a debut novel quite like this one before, and that's a good thing.

3/5 stars