My kids who loved Because I'll never Meet You were very excited to get this sequel.

As with Because You’ll Never Meet Me, Nowhere Near You is a triumph of character building, creativity, and craft.

In some ways, I loved Nowhere Near You much more. Plotwise, there’s a lot more going on, and I found myself engaged in the story much earlier, which makes sense as I was already invested. On the other hand, the plot felt a bit scattered. There are a lot of new characters introduced, and some of those have arcs that don’t resolve. Actually, none of the plots resolved satisfactorily. This book’s REALLY open-ended. It feels like there should be a third to resolve Moritz and his mother, if nothing else. View Spoiler »

For all that overall plotwise, I wanted more, emotionally Nowhere Near You hit harder. The stakes raise, and Leah Thomas gutpunches you in the feels. She continues to be amazing at highlighting not just the wonderful aspects of the MCs’ characters but also their darker parts. It would be so easy to make Ollie twee and cute only, but he’s complex and so much more than you see on the surface. The relationship between Ollie and Moritz is beautiful, and the way they build each other up during bad times is endlessly touching. I also love that they do have fights but work through them.

I highly recommend this series (even though it needs a third book! *coughs in Bloomsbury’s general direction*) to anyone who enjoys creative fiction and strong characterization.

When I finished reading Because You'll Never Meet Me, I was fully satisfied. The open ending was one of the things I liked about it. We didn't get pat answers, just two damaged boys determined to give really living a shot. I was more than a bit apprehensive going into this new book. It's too easy to ruin a wonderful world by revisiting it. Thomas does a solid job with this one. We take the idea that Ollie and Moritz were moving towards their own "happily ever after"s and complicate it. At first they get a semblance of what they wanted: love, acceptance, real life. And it's far more complicated than they realized. Attraction fades. People aren't perfect. We grow and change and hurt people. And it's all necessary. I loved seeing them dealing with new people, facing demons they'd have preferred kept hidden. My first reaction was to say that I didn't like this one as much as the first but on further reflection I think that I do. It's just a different, more complex, kind of like.

The second in Leah Thomas' light scifi/contemporary YA series, Nowhere Near You is a fantastic return to form and to the complex, odd, fascinating lives of Ollie, Moritz, and their various supporting characters, both the old and the newly introduced. The boisterous and irrepressible Ollie has had his world changed drastically since the events of Because You'll Never Meet Me and so too has the more reticent and recalcitrant Moritz. Both teens are still different, trying to adapt to a world not suited to them, and their long-distance friendship is tested and strengthened as the boys mature and form other emotional bonds in their travels. Their epistolary friendship is once again rendered in the various letters between them, showcasing how they complement and contrast with one another.

The science fiction element introduced rather late in book one feels more natural here, now that it's given time to evolve and integrate with the characters themselves. Nowhere Near You is definitely a light science fiction story -- there's not much more detail given about why the various Blunderkids are the way they are (like... was Molly born with two mouths? Was it surgery? How?) other than what was said previously in Because You'll Never Meet Me. Despite the lack of concrete information, the various abilities/attributes mentioned or shown by the secondary characters are interesting, often read as real-world allusions (Molly's second mouth being reminiscent of a teen girl's internal self-doubt, etc.) and unique to this author/series. I was hoping for more conclusions or finality along the lines of the other Blunderkids, but Thomas left most open-ended.

The letters between Ollie and Moritz are vibrant, visual, and burst with the individual voices of the two main characters. Ollie still has a way of practically leaping off the page, but his larger-than-life personality and verbosity is more multifaceted and mature than it has been in the past. He's still excitable but Ollie is more capable than he might appear. His story has always been a difficult one, as have all the Blunderkids, and Ollie's relentless cheer is one of the ways he fights his own darkness. Moritz too has grown and changed over the course of their friendship. Clever, Germanically-dour, and loyal, Moritz has become much more open to life than in book one. These two characters are good for each other: they challenge one another and cheer for each other.

Nowhere Near You is a contemplative contemporary novel. It can feel a tad over-extended at times in its 400 pages, but the last chapter is so emotionally rewarding it's hard to notice or really care. Most of the storylines are left rather open-ended, but despite that it's such a satisfying, hits-on-all-feels novel. The memorable, unique characters in these two books are realistic despite their unusual abilities. From Ollie to Moritz to Owen to Fieke -- they are impossible to not care about. This is a series that will creep up on you.

I hate to say this about this book, but it was somewhat disappointing. I absolutely loved the letters and the friendship between Ollie and Moritz in the first book. I still loved their friendship, but I felt like the storyline was a bit lacking. The end of Because you'll never meet me kind of switched modes from Contemporary to Science Fiction. It kind of threw me, but not enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. This story picks up on that Science Fiction story and I have to say that it's just weird.

Ollie is still grieving the loss of his mother and he is on a journey with his doctor to find more kids like him and Moritz. Ollie is still allergic to electricity and it's interesting to see the different ways they try to cover Ollie and protect him so he doesn't seize up and so he doesn't cause every electric device to fail. Part of the charm of this book was Ollie seeing the world for the first time. He was so amazed by everything, even little things like the smell of a big city. He has been living in the woods his entire life so he is innocent in so many ways. But a part of my issue with the book was that Ollie was so pushy at times. I know that being isolated for so long affected his social skills, but he still annoyed me. When meeting a few of the kids, he demanded to know their stories and got annoyed when they wouldn't. And when his doctor was upset about something, he tried to demand that he tell Ollie the truth about everything. I just wanted to shake him sometimes to make him realize that no one owed him their story, especially when it was as painful as some of the kids they encountered.

I was a little disappointed by the slowness of the storyline. Ollie and his doctor only met a couple of the other kids. Most of the time was spent dealing with too many things: there was Ollie's allergy to electricity, his first journey outside the woods, the stories of the two kids they met and the secret that the doctor was keeping. On Moritz's side, there was just one issue: the issue of a new school with a boyfriend and his unrequited love for Ollie. When it came to Ollie, I just felt like there were so many issues that I wasn't satisfied with the resolution of any of them. Moritz's story was very slow moving and I had a hard time being invested in his story.

I still think the letter format worked really well and I absolutely loved the friendship between Moritz and Ollie. They had such a lovely banter and way of drawing each other out. I just had an issue with pacing and some of the plot. I still love Leah Thomas's writing. I just wish this story were a little less disappointing. I would love to see another book involving these two, mainly because there was a bit of a twist and I loved the ending.

I didn't end up finishing this one; even though I read the first book and thought it was interesting, I guess I wasn't interested enough to keep reading more. Sorry.

Can I give this ten stars? Is that maybe a thing? GUYS this book blew me away. This is the follow up to Because you'll never meet me which was fantastic. When it comes to books with more the one sometimes the second book ends up dragging. This did not happen.

Nowhere near you had me hooked from start to finish. It still follows the letters between our favorite boys Ollie and Moritz. This installment brings us some new scenery and along with it some new characters. Author was my most favorite new character to meet he was so down to earth I just loved him so much! Molly and Klaus were just fabulous! We also meet Bridgett, Brian, and some adult characters. I loved them all! These characters brought so much to the story I couldn't imagine Ollie and Moritz journey without them.

Let's talk plot, OH MY FREAKING LANTA, I was on a rollercoaster of emotions. First I was happy, hopeful, sad, scared, ALIVE, loving, torn to pieces because nothings right in the world, to hopeful. I would not have had it any other way. This was dare I say it even better than the first which I did not think was possible. I can begin to explain the weight this book holds in my heart now. I need more time with this characters so PLEASE say there will more because that ending. If I am being honest I finished this book and sat in my chair a cried my eyes out. I cried of sadness for a moment but mostly I cried with hope. I could live with this being the end but I hope, pray, and dream there will be more because so many questions are still open.

This was a fantastic read. Everyone needs to get their hands on these books. My heart may never be the same. 5 fluffing stars



Favorite Quote

"I thought of you calling me good. I thought of you, just you---"

Highlights:
First Page:

From the first page, Ollie compares himself to Alexander Hamilton and I realize nothing has ever been more true.

It may have sent me off laughing manically because “Oh my gosh, that is so TRUE” and because I am obsessed with both Hamilton and Ollie. Especially Ollie though given he is a natural storyteller and gives a lot of detail.

The Letters:

I was worried about how the letters would go after not reading Because You’ll Never Meet Me and just jumping into Nowhere Near You. I’m so happy to say that from the first page, I fell right back into Ollie and Morit’z’s minds, hearing their voices perfectly. There were so many heartbreaking and heartwarming passages in the book that blew me away.

The Boys Relationship:

My boys. My loves. My LOVES. I love these guys. What I adored most in Because You’ll Never Meet Me was how amazing Ollie and Moritz’s friendship was. Their friendship only grew stronger in Nowhere Near You. I loved seeing how they reacted to each other after first discovering them. It was great to see how well they understand the other even when things weren’t really said. Their relationship was just totally friendship goals.

New Characters!:

I loved reading about three new characters who were all like Ollie and Moritz with having been in the same circumstances. I really loved one character’s backstory with Moritz. It was hard to grasp some of these characters characteristics, but I think they really cemented the speculative fiction genre. I would love to read more about these characters sometime.

All The Feels:

And I do mean all of them. Well, let’s just say sadness, joy and fear. Just writing this post makes me emotional and want to re-read the two books.

This book was just a rollercoaster of emotion. Like Because You’ll Never Meet Me, there was something I wasn’t expecting that happened and let me just say “Oh my gosh, you did not!”

But they did, guys. Leah DID in fact do a thing. It was scary.

Ollie and Moritz are back! Still told in alternating chapters/letters, Nowhere Near You picks up where Because You'll Never Meet Me left off.

Ollie and Dr. Auburn-Stache are on a road trip. No, it's not just a fun guys' road trip. Ollie's mother is dead and Dr. Auburn-Stache needs to go check up on the other Blunderkinder - lab kids. Along the way, Ollie meets the self-healing Arthur and Bridget, the girl who can remove her heart so she doesn't have to feel anything.

Moritz has begun a new adventure of his own. At the urging of Frau Pruwitt, Moritz has gained admission to Myriad Academy, a fine arts school across town. There he encounters two-mouthed Molly, the girl who tried to drown him as a child in the lab. They even become friends.

But life is never easy for a Blunderkind. Both Ollie and Moritz "unleash" their powers, bare their abnormalities, to others around them, even if done so unwillingly. And in doing so, each begins to turn from victim to, well, maybe not aggressor, but into someone who can stand up for himself and offer something to those around him.

I'll be honest. At points I tired of the self-pity engulfing both Ollie and Moritz. But in light of their unique situations, could I really blame them? Not so much. And the ending. Is. To. Die. For.

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