Thanks to Net Galley and Delacorte Press for providing me an early copy of this book to review! It was a wild ride, honestly. Throughout the book, we get these two different realities for Chris without really knowing which is the real one until the end. The way that Tebbetts weaves these two realities is genius; he drops subtle hints that you don't really pick up on until Chris starts talking about alternate timelines. 

In terms of characters, Chris definitely had a lot of growing up to do at the beginning of the book. He was very focused on his own little world and his own plans that he didn't really think about anyone else around him. The two different timelines help him to work through these insecurities, and help him to grow throughout the book. I almost liked his best friends better than him, though they don't get a whole lot of development. But their banter together was fun, and made it an overall lighthearted read.

Tebbetts puts a fun spin on the coming-of-age story in this fun play on alternate realities. A perfect read to bring with you to the beach!

I received a digital ARC copy of this title thorough NetGalley. What initially drew me into this book was the cover, but what had me really wanting to read this was the synopsis. After finishing Me, Myself and Him I felt unsatisfied; there were many times while reading this that I wanted to DNF it but kept pushing myself through it. Prior to reading this work by the author I had only read his middle grade titles that were co-authored, and this book which is supposed to be YA doesn't feel like one but a middle grade title because of the way it's written.

One of the pros I have for this book was that it read fast. However, this one pro doesn't make up for all the cons I had with it while reading; some cons include: character development, the relationships, how some of the topics were handled, etc. I personally wouldn't want to recommend this book to any of my friends or family because I don't think they would enjoy it, rather find it harmful to them.

I tried to get interested, but wasn't able to generate enough energy to continue. Sorry, it just wasn't for me. 3 stars for the potential.

This was such a wonderful book! I recommend this to anyone who loves alternate timelines and parallel universes. If you're looking for a fresh book with some great twists and turns, this is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I love the concept of parallel universes and infinite possibilities of the same life, so I was really intrigued by the dual concept of the point of views in Me Myself and Him. I quickly became enamored with Chris and his journey through the social waters of his life (lives).

The complexity of his relationships with Anna and Wex, his Dad, Gina, Mitch and Swift were engrossing and because of this, I felt a little cheated with the abrupt ending and feel like nothing really was wrapped up.

Because of this, I would give Myself and Him a solid 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you net galley!

Truth be told, I did not like this book. I had a very hard time getting into it and I struggled to find the motivation to continue reading. The way the book was set up simply made me very not interested in it. I did not like that each chapter essentially had two chapters in it, one version for each of the two storylines that was being told.

I think the premise behind the book is great, and I love the idea of there being two stories within one book. Especially with the idea of alternate realities. However, I did not like the flip-flop back and forth in this book. If you weren't keeping careful track on which chapter was which, it was easy to forget that the storyline switched back and forth. There were a few times that I got confused as to which version of Chris that I was currently reading.

With that being said, I did very much enjoy the storyline of this book. I liked how one version had Kris in trouble for something that he did it while the other version showed what would happen if he got away with it. I did like that the two storylines merged together at points so that there were specific events that happened in both timelines.

If you like alternate realities and alternate possibilities for stories, then this book is absolutely perfect for you. The storyline and the premise and the characters were fantastic.

3.5 Stars

This is definitely a guy read. I love me some female YA authors, but let's face it. Guys sometimes do a better job of writing guy characters. I will most certainly recommend this book to my students - guys and girls.

Chris is probably one of two characters in the book that I liked (Gina is the other one). Chris is authentic - his snarkiness, his anger, lying to his parents - sounds like a character that many teens can relate to. Several times while reading Chris's inner thoughts, I laughed heartily.

"Dad's ego was like this stray animal, and the more you fed it, the more it kept coming around."

That one really got me.

Love the premise of the book - kid passes out after huffing nitrous and deals with the fallout in two alternate timelines. I did not like the execution of said premise - too confusing at times AND I was expecting each storyline to end with REAL consequences.

When I first began reading, Chris and his mishap with whippets reminded me of a modern day After School Special. I was almost giddy! My biggest fear was that the author might wind up sounding too preachy. Um, no. That didn't happen at all. What started out with a strong, controversial topic of drug use, ended with fluffy bunnies and rainbows. Instead of addressing the drug issue (Chris and his friends also used alcohol and marijuana frequently), each timeline focused on Chris's relationship with his crappy friends/new love interest - all one-dimensional.

In fact, most of the characters, including Chris's dad, treated huffing, underage drinking, and smoking pot as seemingly benign drug use (if that's actually a thing), almost condoning this behavior as ordinary. No big deal.

Chris, talking to his dad:
"But if we're being honest, I'm pretty sure I haven't smoked my last weed, and I'm guessing I'll be drunk more than once before freshman year is over."

To which his dad replies,
"I never expected you to abstain from everything under the sun."

Wait . . . what?
The only real consequence of Chris's actions was his face got banged up. The other potentially serious consequences in each timeline were rewarded: he got the insurance money because they missed the deadline, and he met the love of his life at group therapy. Seriously?!

I will still buy this book, put it in my library, and recommend it to my students. But, I will make sure to pair it with a book about the dangers of inhalants. The last thing I want is for one of my students to read this book and think the worst that can happen is your face gets jacked up. Death. That's the worst that can happen.

Me Myself & Him reaches for some intriguing ideas, but is dragged down by flat characters and an unpleasant protagonist. A case of autobiographical fiction gone wrong. Two stars.

--

There’s a good chance the first thing you noticed about Me Myself & Him is the fact that the author, Chris Tebbetts, has the same first name as the main character, Chris Schweitzer.

Unless you’re like me, in which case you didn’t notice until you’d already read the first chapter. Because I’m that smart.

I hit request on this one because the cover was good enough to make up for the title, and, of course, because the split-timeline framework looked fresh and interesting. I kind of wish I had noticed the same-first-names thing beforehand, though. The fact that the author gave the main character (the first-person POV character, no less) his name might have clued me in about what I was in for. Maybe then I wouldn’t feel so dissapointed.

After I finished, I hunted around until I found an interview that addressed the Chris/Chris thing. It comes up quickly in this great interview by the Haunted Wordsmith at HW Book Nook and Cranny:

“The prologue of this book is autobiographical, about a drug-fueled accident I had at age nineteen, where I broke my nose and got into a lot of trouble with my parents, appropriately enough… [Naming Chris after the author] was a deliberate choice, of course, since this story is in some small part memoir, mixed with a much heavier dose of fiction. Beyond that, the book also draws on a lot of the emotional truths that were part of my experience at that age.”

Color me not surprised.

I figured, while reading, that Chris was written to closely reflect the author’s teenage self. Even beyond the name-sharing, he’s just that kind of character. That fingerprint is so clear that I’m not surprised he’s supposed to be a direct analog.

I love hearing YA authors compare and contrast their characters with their teenage self. It’s essential to be able to identify in those ways with your MC, especially if you’re writing a much younger character. But there’s a difference between drawing inspiration from your own life and taking an anecdote from your teenage years and copy-pasting into a novel.

Memoir-fiction blends can be compelling, rawly honest books. In this case, however, I fear the impulse to novelize this episode of his life led Chris Tebbetts astray. This origin story explains one of the book’s essential flaws: it completely fails to make the case for why this story is interesting. Of course you’d be invested in something that happened to you–it’s your life! It’s important! But that doesn’t mean it’ll be compelling for anyone else.

The book seems to take it for granted that this character and these events are interesting. It’s hard to ignore the sense that this has everything to do with it’s autobiographical nature–not to mention the long tradition of the Western canon’s insistence that anything that happens to a young, white everyman is interesting by definition.

Me Myself & Him never stops to show me why I should care about deeply mediocre Chris. It just charges forward with the story, assuming I’m impacted by the variations in this unremarkable life.

This is made worse by the fact that Chris’ mind is a deeply unpleasant place to be. He’s self-absorbed and nasty, and most pages are full of his uncharitable, knee-jerk assumptions about other characters. You can’t say that’s not realistic; he’s a teenager. Lots of teenagers (especially those as privileged as Chris) are self-absorbed and mean.

But realistic doesn’t mean compelling, and it doesn’t mean worth reading. I finished the book frustrated that I never got any payoff for the hours I spent inside Chris’ small mind. It would have been worth it if this character showed me something new, but Chris’ growth is minimal and I never get the sense that the book is pushing back against his flaws. Slice-of-life, average Joe characters work if they’re digging into something deeper, but Me Myself & Him can’t get past how ~important~ it finds Chris for his own sake.

The book’s saving grace might have been a cast of interesting secondary characters that contextualize Chris’ ignorance, but unfortunately, Chris is the only character that is fully drawn. The rest are flat mix-and-matches of stock characterization that only matter as side characters in Chris’ life, not as humans with their own interiority. (It’s unsurprising that this story, with a male-dominated cast, sidelines the female characters most of all.)

In the end, with little character development and no real story to tell, all Me Myself & Him is left with is the speculative framework. The author seems to be relying on the split-timeline structure to make the novel interesting, but that only serves to give the reader two poor contemporaries instead of one.

I do like the idea–it’s what drew me to the book. And there were moments when I could really see what Tebbets was going for. This kid had an idea of what the future would look like, and in one night, poof, that goes away. He’s having a completely different summer (and when you’re that age, a summer matters) than he thought, and he can’t let go of what might have been. The novel explores that directly–okay, then. What if the moment that changed everything went differently? It turns out that Chris’ imagined future still wouldn’t have happened; it just would have turned into something different. But how could he have known?

I can completely identify with that curiosity and longing. It’s a feeling that, for me, sits perfectly in that summer-before-college setting. I had very similar thoughts in my late teens, ruminating over the small choices that led me to people and experiences that meant everything… people and experiences I otherwise would have missed. The book reaches towards some great ideas when it’s a story about what might have been, and those moments kept it from being a one-star read for me.

But I can’t even think about those moments for very long before I start remembering how frustrating they became after a while. Tebbets doesn’t seem to trust his reader to understand what he’s going for, so he has his characters constantly bring up theories of the multiverse. It was clever the first couple times, but by halfway through the book, I couldn’t imagine what reader wouldn’t have gotten the picture by now.

It being June when I write this, I can’t close this review without bringing up the LGBT rep. Chris (the character, though I believe the author as well) is out as gay, and an m/m relationship plays a central role in the second half of the book. I don’t have many thoughts on the rep in this book–it didn’t strike me as particularly good or bad–but I’ll link some OwnVoices reviews if I find any that address it directly.

--

Review will be posted to blog and Goodreads June 25.

Cute and fast YA read.

Chris has just finished high school and is getting ready to enjoy the summer before he heads off to college at Birch University. But one night after work, he passes out on the sidewalk while doing whippets and smashes up his face enough that it lands him in the emergency room. What follows is a diverging story. One plot takes the approach that Chris comes clean about the circumstances that led up to his injury; in the alternate tale, Chris blames the injury on an accidental fall.

The plot is light and entertaining while still dealing with difficult situations that involve a troubled friendship, a difficult parental relationship, and Chris's own sexuality. This is all done in a way that remains relatable and isn't overdone.

Chris is an incredibly well-developed character. The supporting characters are also quite dynamic, allowing the entire premise to feel quite believable and to flow very naturally...in both plot lines.

The structure of the book may be a little difficult to read for those who have trouble with vacillating storylines, but I enjoyed it. It was not an overly emotional read for me, but may be quite powerful for those who can more personally identify with Chris's situations.

Me, Myself, & Him would be a good read for anyone looking for something that is smooth without being fluff. Could be an excellent summer read, either for the beach or for travel.

Honestly like I'm not sure what plot line was the real plot line and I guess I would have rather followed the one where he was in California longer because it was better and made more sense.

Me Myself & Him follows Chris during the summer before his Freshmen year of college. After an accident with whippets that results in a broken nose, the story splits into to parallel universes. In one, Chris’ parents find out what happened and he’s forced to spend the summer with his estranged father, a famous physicist in California. In the other, Chris remains at home to spend the summer with his best friends, Wex and Anna, who start dating.

At times, Christ was a bit of a brat, but most teenagers are, which is what made him feel like a real person. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I’ve read a book or two before about parallel universes and usually ended up favoring one of the timelines over the other but with Chris’ story, I was equally invested in both timelines and the set of characters that belonged to each other.

I was invested in both the Chris in California and the relationship with his father, his potential romance and his friendship with Gina, a born-again Christian working for his father and the Chris back home who has become a third wheel among his two best friends and is trying to protect his secret of what happened that night.

A big thank you to netgalley and the book’s publishers for providing me with an arc!

This was definitely a new spin I wasn't expecting. The alternate, yet sometimes coincidental timelines made the book interesting, yet it also made the book disconnected for me. I was way more invested in the timeline where Chris goes to live with his dad. I enjoyed the character building in that storyline and felt like it was more developed. I was actually kinda disappointed going to the other timeline. Maybe the romance was just more my style right now.
I enjoyed the read, it was easy-going and entertaining. I was just left feeling like so much was not resolved. I couldn't believe the book was ending when it did. I was left wanting more, especially in a resolution with his parents. It felt rushed from about the 1/2 way point.

An interesting premise, but it never really pays off.

Who wouldn't be curious about what might have happened if ... ?

I liked the back and forth between the parallel universes, but I kept waiting for something to payoff. For Chris to learn a lesson or something. But the one dimensional love interest and the unresolved issues with his dad just .... well, nothing happens at the end. There's no emotional or drama resolution. The book just ends because Chris has ran out of time. The pacing was way off and felt short. More story could have been added to make this a more complex book. I was hoping for more.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Story: 2 stars
Character Development: 3 stars
Writing/Prose: 3 stars

I really enjoyed this! I will definitely be recommending this to be regular patrons at books a million!!!!

Absolutely fantastic! Chris was a fantastic main character with just the right touch of lovable, flaws, and of course, humor. The mirror image way the story was told (one reality where he goes to California to live with his dad and one where he stays in Ohio with his mom) was a hugely successful plot and really digs into the questions of identity and friendship defined by the summer between high school and college. Great. relateable, binge-worthy read.

This book is so cool. The author employs a parallel universe-esque storytelling strategy that tells the tale of Chris, and how his life would be depending on if he chooses to stay with his father or go with his mother.

While I loved the way the dual perspectives are told, I do wish there was a bit more description involved with the characters. I felt as though sometimes the characters in this book fell flat.

How cool is this book? I LOVED the dual timelines as well as the opportunity to the consequences of Chris's decisions from both sides. Additionally, I think it is amazing how the author was able to successfully navigate both timelines while still maintaining a cohesive and understandable storyline. Tebbetts was also able to seamlessly throw in some pretty heavy themes - religion, fate, parallel universes, growing up and so much more! I think this an important book for teens (AND adults) to read in terms of understanding how the choices we make influence our lives and the lives of others. I found myself feeling all the emotions, anger/elation/sadness/frustration/EVERYTHING! This alone always speaks volumes to me and I think this truly is a book for everyone.

I really really enjoyed the premise of this book. It grabbed my attention and left me curious with where the story was going. I felt lukewarm about the characters, but found myself shipping or rooting for characters, so I guess that's a good sign regarding my attachment to them. I will say I was disappointed in the ending, and is the reason why I gave this 3 stars instead of 4 or 5. The ending was so abrupt, I felt like I didn't have any closure and didn't get to see the relationship between characters evolve into anything. I felt like the story needed to be longer in order to have a satisfying ending or to at least flesh out the relationship between characters.

I’m really torn between a 3 and 4 star rating for this and I could insert a horrible joke about the infinite possibilities that could lead to me changing it but for now I’m just going to stick with the 3.

“Me, Myself and Him” follows Chris down two very different paths following his accident after a whippet gone wrong and in each we see how the very idea of change, be it with his social circle, his fathers upcoming wedding or his very self can be impacted by any number of decisions he encounters.

So I’m not sure which version of this story is supposed to be the one that actually happens but I really enjoyed both for what they brought to the table and how they impacted Chris.

Scenario 1 sees Chris living with his father and navigating their rocky relationship as he harbors resentment over his fathers decision to leave the family and the strict rules he finds himself following in order to go to college in the fall. This portion gives us a lot of insight into his relationship with his family while still touching on the subject of his friends and the struggle we’ve all faced with wanting to hold on to childhood relationships as we enter adulthood while also letting us see him grow up and reach this new found independence now that he doesn’t have the crutch of his friends to make him feel safe.

Scenario 2 finds Chris desperate to keep his social dynamic exactly the same for his final summer before college only to find that someone knows he lied about his accident and this newfound problem might be someone just as lost in the shuffle as Chris and looking for a friend to hold on to.

I’ll be honest as much as I loved scenario 1 for all it gave us in terms of the past and what it could mean for Chris and his father moving forward I really wanted there to be some kind of resolution for scenario 2 Chris and whatever the hell was going on with Mitch. I feel like that portion of the story cuts off too quickly and there was more to that character than what we see and I’d give anything to see some sort of sequel or POV granted to him at some point.

This book is very interesting and a bit confusing at first as the synopsis set up an idea in my head that was nothing like how it actually played out in terms of the two alternating timelines so I’ll admit it was a bit of a struggle at first but it was resolved quickly in order to finish out the story which wasn’t anything stellar but also wasn’t awful so for that I’m grateful.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I'm between 4 and 4.5 stars.

The tagline for this book says it best: "One broken nose. Two versions of the same story. Infinite possibilities."

It's the summer before college, before Chris and his two best friends, Wexler and Anna, all go their separate ways to different schools. One night, while doing a hit of whippets outside the restaurant where he works, Chris passes out face-first, breaking his nose. When his estranged father, a famous physicist in California, hears what Chris did, he demands that Chris come and live with him for the summer and work at his lab—or he won't pay for him to go to the college of his choice.

The thought of having to leave his friends during the last few months they'll spend together, and live with a father he still resents for leaving, is utterly unappealing. But Chris doesn't seem to see any alternative—the college he wants to attend has a great film program and it's his ticket out of small-town Ohio. As he begins to sense a newfound chemistry between Wexler and Anna that will leave him behind, he heads to California, unsure of how the summer will go in all aspects.

But in another timeline, Chris hides the truth of what happened from his parents, just telling them he fell. He gets to keep his job and stay home for the summer, but he's not sure how to handle Anna and Wexler suddenly becoming a couple, leaving him and his sparse romantic prospects even more depressing. He knows he'll never find a boyfriend in his small Ohio town, and why bother when he's about to leave? However, little by little the summer starts to fall apart, as the truth about his accident starts to get revealed and his relationship with his friends becomes strained. Chris wonders if there's another version of him somewhere else, living a better life.

The chapters in Me Myself & Him alternate between Chris' "real" story as he spends the summer in California and deals with his father, and the "other" version in which he stays in Ohio and no one is the wiser about what happened (not really). This is a fascinating, poignant, thought-provoking book which meshes familial dysfunction, the fear of growing apart from your friends, and wanting to be loved for who you are with musings on alternate realities, religion, and fate.

I really enjoyed this book and thought Chris Tebbetts did a great job laying out the story and the alternate path Chris' life could have taken. Even though he's a bit misanthropic, I really identified with so many of his feelings, with wanting things to change but also wanting them to stay exactly the same, wanting your friends to be happy but not wanting your relationships to change, and just wanting someone to be with, all while trying to figure out who you are.

I think of this as the not-quite-stoner version of Sliding Doors. It's utterly entertaining and a really enjoyable read.

NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

This book will be published July 9, 2019.