Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This story is an incredible look at how our friendships and the people that we surround ourselves with can impact us. An impactful story that I look forward to getting into the hands of teens.

If you’re looking for a book full of action and adventure, or fantasy fun, this isn’t the book for you. This fits squarely into the category of slice-of-life. Sometimes, that’s a nice thing to read. It’s not usually my jam, but as you may know, I will try anything once (with the exception of a certain illegal drug). I think this book was as enjoyable as it was because of the characters.

Once again, this book is set at a boarding school - this one all girls. While our main character is a day student, we do get to see the inside of a couple of boarding rooms, and experience the rules and regulations that the girls are subjected to. Having been a day student at a boarding school, it did feel like being back there! Our MC has been sent to this new school because she got caught drinking at her last school, and her parents wanted to get her back on track. She has been sent to live with her grandmother, who is a teacher at the school.

For the beginning of the book, June is very upset, as she has been taken away from her best friend, Jess. June doesn’t want to move on, or interact with her new classmates, or her grandmother; she just wants to message Jess, and speed through the time in order to get back to her. Obviously, things change, and her mindset adjusts slowly over the book. Sarah Van Name has done a fantastic job of character development here; it felt so incredibly genuine. Most of us don’t wake up one day and see all of the things wrong with ourselves and our lives, we tend to come to this realisation slowly, as things outside of ourselves change. In this book, the photography class that June takes acts as a parallel metaphor of how her view changes, and it’s done so very well. It’s not heavy handed, doesn’t force itself down your throat. The relationships of June with the people around her also change, and it too feels natural.

LGBT+ rep in this book was good too! Two of our main characters are in a same sex relationship - one is a lesbian, the other bisexual, and it’s really great to see characters like this where the coming out isn’t the main focus of the story - it’s just how they are, and that’s that!

There’s not a lot left to say about this book, it honestly speaks for itself. I found myself highlighting multiple passages and sending them to my flatmate, it was that well written that I needed to share it. There’s not a lot of content warnings needed, other than underdage alcohol consumption and discussions of PDA.

Any Place But Here is a strongly written, quiet little novel about realistic characters experiencing realistic emotions and going through realistic turmoil. Author Sarah Van Name handles this all with elegant and beautifully done prose.

June and her best friend Jess are inseparable. They’re even asked to leave Greenmont, their private North Carolina school, together after they’re caught getting drunk on whiskey in the girls’ bathroom during the school’s Jingle Bell Ball in the first semester of their junior year.

June’s parents send her to her Oma’s (Grandmother’s) home in West Virginia so she can enroll in the all-girls boarding school where Oma works in the hope that the new school will perhaps enable her to disentangle herself from the intense friendship she and Jess share.  While Jess starts getting on with her life back at home, June is heartbroken, blaming herself for their expulsion. But slowly and determinedly – and with the help of her Oma and her love of photography  – June starts to forge a relationship with herself and develop an identity that’s not wrapped around her closeness with Jess.  She makes friends, and begins to fall for Sam, a local whom she meets in a cemetery.  But will June ever confront her feelings for Jess – and when she does, what will she realize about herself?

I can’t tell you how much I related to June, who is rebellious and slowly learning more and more about herself and her own sexuality.  Her story is quiet but agonizing – any queer person who has longed for a community and identity will have gone through what she has.  The ordinary feeling of the story may be simple and it might not be an out there outlandish thing, but it’s concrete and real and true.

And June isn’t the only person who’s come to realize her own bi; there are two supporting bisexual characters.  I’m delighted by the level of representation in the book, how natural it feels, how real June’s angst over her feelings for Jess is, and how they have driven the intensity of the friendship all along.  If you’ve ever pined for your best friend, you will understand how June feels.  Her journey is life-affirming without being heartbreaking, bold and driven by the heart of the character without feeling preachy or misplaced.

But the book also recognizes that it’s important to have a full life outside of romance, and the secondary characters – Oma, all of the friends June makes at a diner nearby, the girls she meets at school, and Sam – are drawn with a careful pen, etching them onto the page as authentic-feeling people.  The fabulously independent, smartly-written Oma is a standout in particular – you would want someone like her standing beside you were you ever in trouble.

Any Place But Here is a fabulous book, beautifully committed to the page, and well worth space on any teenager’s bookshelf.

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Any Place But Here by Sarah Van Name is a coming of age story that really brought a feel good vibe to my day whenever I picked it up. I don’t think I was expecting that when I first picked up this novel.

The story follows June as she is sent to live and to school with her grandmother due to some delinquency issues at her last school with her best friend Jess. She struggles at first before making a few friends, but then is torn between her new life and her old life. I loved the way Van Name made you fall in love with June’s character from the jump. She was that typical teen who liked to have fun with friends and then was ripped out of her normal environment. I loved all the supporting characters of Sam, Kitty, and Claire. They each brought something new to the table. I felt they were imparative to major character growth for June and Van Name did a good job of depicting that story line.

This story touches on hard topics like underage drinking, depression, and toxic friendships, but it also talks about personal growth, overcoming obstacles, and just plain growing up. There were times I wanted to cry with June and times I wanted to scold her and tell her she was making poor decisions. I felt what she was felting, which just shows how good of a writer Sarah Van Name is. I was involved. I was invested. I had to see how it ended. I was not disappointed. While there were definitely parts of this story I would not call “feel good”, in the end it made me feel good. Not because the characters were perfect, but because of the direction the characters were left going.

I’m a huge fan of YA Fiction novels even as a grown adult. I love the layers in the stories and Sarah Van Name is definitely on my watch list of must reads moving forward. A perfect book for a nice sunny day at the beach or a rainy day inside. You won’t be disappointed.

"Well, sometimes the best representatives of ourselves aren't the most aesthetically pleasing."

June and Jess are best friends. But when they are found drunk at a school dance, rather than be expelled, June leaves town to live with her grandmother and start afresh at the school her grandmother teachers at.

But how is June meant to survive in a new town and a new school without her friends, and most importantly Jess? Was what they did that bad? Of course they were drinking, it's what everyone does. June feels cut off from her friends and her family.

But despite her resolution to keep to herself and mark time until she gets to go home for the school holidays, June does make friends and she begins to find herself in the quiet small town she finds herself living in.

This is a coming of age story, a story about toxic friendships and a story not so much about re-inventing yourself but maybe finding your true self.


Thanks to Negalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the eArc to review.

This is the sort of quiet contemporary YA that was very common a decade ago but is becoming increasingly rare, which makes me very grateful books like Any Place But Here are published because there are still teens wrestling with issues this book addresses so well: what is friendship and when is it love? What kind of love is it? How is where you are dictating who you are? How do you define who you love, and can you find the strength to accept who you are? Are you in an environment where it's okay to say who you want to be, and who you want?

These things are so important! And while accepting people's choices is a lot easier than it used to be for many, there are still teens who are trying to figure out who they are when they're not sure and/or there are family/community beliefs that they feel they must obey.

Any Place But Here is a quiet book, but it's smart and well-written and is absolutely the kind of contemporary YA libraries need to have, especially for those who know LBGT+ teens need support. Very highly recommended.

This book surprised me. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I highly recommend if you are in a reading slump and just need a pick me up

This just didn't do it for me. I felt like it was just too much of a slow burn. I think the plot itself has so much potential and maybe it was the writing that just didn't work for me but I can see that this book will do well.

Any Place But Here by Sarah Van Name is a heartfelt and emotional story about friendship, identity, belonging, and more. As surroundings change, people do too, and for June, there is much to learn about herself and the people around her.

When a boozy school dance leads to June’s high school expulsion, her whole world is turned upside down. June is forced to head miles from home to attend the all-girls boarding school where her oma is a well-liked teacher. Life in June’s new Virginia home is much quieter than what she is used to. Here, her new friends follow the rules, and June soon finds that she does too. June steers clear of alcohol, works hard in class, and stays true to her curfew, maybe because the local diner and the town cemetery stand alone as places a rule-breaking teenager might visit after nightfall.

June’s character development is an important part of Any Place But Here. At the beginning of her story, June is proudly devoted to her best friend back home, Jess, but as the book progresses, June’s new friends, Kitty, Claire, and Sam, bring out new elements of her personality. June discovers a passion for photography and learns to have fun sober. She questions and comes to terms with her not-straight sexuality, and she begins to realise the influence Jess and the other people in her life have on who she is, at least when she is around them. By understanding the impacts of a new environment and social group on her own behaviour, June is able to develop a stronger, clearer sense of self. This is an important and refreshing arc in YA lit.

If you enjoyed The Castle School for Trouble Girls by Alyssa Sheinmel and The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen, you might like Any Place But Here! Expect themes of identity, friendship, romance, family, and belonging—all staples of great YA contemporary.

“I don’t think I’m gay,” I said to Kitty, and this time, I was surprised at how quiet and scared I sounded. I had never talked to anyone about this before, ever. “I’ve had crushes on guys before. I had a boyfriend one summer. I didn’t like him all that much, but still.”
Kitty rustled the bedcovers again and turned to face me. “Bisexual people exist,” she said. “Claire is bisexual. I am not, but I thought for a while I might be. In fact, I assume that everyone is bisexual until proven otherwise.”
I smiled. “Valid approach.”

To not be a big Contemporary reader, I've hit some kind of jackpot lately. And they have all been bi/pan positive books. (The others are Follow Your Arrow and Perfect on Paper) As much as I love queer books, it's like being bi in a different-gender relationship is a huge taboo. And it's annoying we don't have many books/shows/other media that represent it.

Something I keep thinking about, I remember reading the Adaptation duology by Malinda Lo and absolutely loving it. But I also remember hoping and praying the main character ended up with the guy. Honestly, at the time, I didn't know why I wanted it so bad because I was 100 percent on board with the ending. But looking back now, it's because I had never really seen much bisexuality in media. Luckily, things seem to be changing. Slowly. But, also, please don't get me started on my Bellarke bs.

Any Place But Here starts out with bffs, June and Jess, get caught drinking at a school dance and June's parents decide to send her to an all-girls boarding school where her grandmother, Oma, teaches. Of course, June doesn't want to leave Jess. Jess is her constant. But, June quickly befriends girlfriends, vibrant Claire and somber Kitty, and Claire's cousin, Sam, who takes a photography class with her. As the school year continues, June slowly learns more about herself and just how toxic her friendship (and feelings) with Jess really is.

I literally wasn't expecting to relate so much to this book. I actually sobbed a few times and had to set the book aside and walk away. I HAD a Jess. She was controlling and manipulative and not a very good person. She is still a friend but I can remember, all these years later, the moment I realized our friendship had changed. I also had an Oma. She was my real bestfriend. And I miss her everyday.

“Everything is almost the same as when I left, but not quite,” I answered. “The things that are different, I don’t recognize. And the things that are the same, I don’t want to be part of anymore.”

Any Place But Here is a quiet contemplative book. There are no big romantic scenes. There are feelings. And love. And so much friendship. But those are the things that make it powerful.

***Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a review copy. Quotes are subject to change.***

I really enjoyed this book. It approaches friendships and relationships in a raw and honest way, describing the toxicity of some friendships. The main characters for example, Jess and June, had a complicated friendship.

I found myself needing to keep reading to find out what happens in this book. The character development was great, although it was difficult to fully relate to the characters.

I thought the pace of the book was perfect, and the writing style was succinct and easy to read.

Overall, I would recommend this book, especially to fans of darker contemporary YA.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Right, this was an okay book in my opinion. I didn't feel like the stakes were ever high enough to warrant a reader to want to continue and the characters in many ways were not interesting. However, the writing is flawless and easy to read. At times, descriptions could be heavy but it's still a good book to read. One I would recommend for the summer.

Plot: Two best friends who are separated - sounds great - until we find out one of them is actually in love with the other. I was hoping it could just be a platonic friendship that was just like a sisterhood but that went out the window and could be its downfall.

Characters: The MC is a bit flat at times and doesn't read very well.

Voice: The writing style is very well-done, the author definitely knows their craft and it feels like something I could read on the beach haphazardly.

Any Place But Here is my first encounter with Sarah Van Name’s writing and I immediately felt drawn into the world of her characters. You meet June and Jess at an evening that feels like it could be any night of the week for them, beyond tipsy and definitely drunk, just that it’s at a school venue and things are spiraling fast after they get discovered with booze in the bathroom.

After that, no matter what June says, her parents don’t trust her anymore and send her off to live with her grandmother (lovingly called Oma, which is also what I have always called my grandmothers too) to attend an all-girls-school. In the beginning, I struggled a bit with that punishment. I understand the concern of June’s parents and the way they mostly blame it on her “friendship” with Jess, but June is literally a straight A studen and … I come from a country where the legal drinking age is 16, so I always roll my eyes a bit at American laws. Of course, there is a difference between drinking responsibly and just getting wasted and I don’t condone the reckless kind since I’m not much of a drinker myself, but it’s always a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around why it is such a huge deal. I literally had bartending classes at my school when I was 16, but I’m veering off course. This conflict sets up the rest of the novel and does so really well.

Who would want to leave behind everyone they know, including the person they care about most, to live in a town where they know no one and nothing ever happens? I can tell you that the answer is not June.

As we see the world through her eyes, it quickly becomes clear that June’s relationship with Jess was more than “just” a friendship. Whenever she speaks about her, their shared bond seems undeniable, but the longer they spend apart, the harder it becomes. And you also start to wonder what held them together in the first place. Things become even trickier when June’s new friends bring up the question of her sexuality (in an intimate and non-pressure related setting) and June has no real answer for it, especially since she finds herself drawn to one of the new acquaintances. I find it’s not often that bisexuality is explored in young adult books, but I enjoyed the way it was done here.

I have spent my fair share of time away from family and friends and I always felt like I was a different person when I came back. Sometimes I was shocked to see how much had changed in my absence, other times I found myself annoyed with the lack of change in my environment when I felt so utterly different. This book perfectly mirrored my emotions and dealt with how hard it can be to let go or fight to keep someone in your life. It’s always a decision you have to make and sometimes you don’t ultimately get what you want.

When you meet new people that enrich your day to day and you find new hobbies that bring you joy, it can be hard to arrange and combine this with your old life. Things change and so do people. Aside from this beautiful exploration of love and friendship, it was also a great but nonchalant portrayal of family. The messiness of it, but the love that was woven through all decisions really warmed my heart. Even with them being miles apart, June’s younger siblings were always present in her thoughts and the struggle with her parents was so relatable. They always made her feel like she had to compete for their approval, but when she lived with her grandmother she experienced such a different parenting style and through that could actually find things she enjoyed.

Overall, I loved being on this ride with June and seeing her find her own way. It also got me really interested in photography, which I didn’t expect, but hey, maybe I’ll find my own Sam there.

Fazit: 4/5 stars! A great read about changing relationships, family and expectations. Enjoyed it a lot!

Grade 11 student June and her best friend Jess are inseparable…that is, until they both get “expelled” from school after getting caught drinking at a school dance. While Jess gets to stay at the school due to a generous donation from her parents, June is forced to move miles away to live with her Oma and attend the all-girls school where her Oma teaches. June misses Jess terribly until she discovers her love for photography and starts to make new friends; Kitty and Claire (a couple from her physics class) and Sam (Claire’s cousin, an amateur photographer, and the only boy who attends a class at the all-girls school). As a result, Jess starts to pull away and June starts to seriously question her own life: why did she and Jess drink so much? Were her and Jess just friends or were they something more? Why doesn’t Jess seem to like June’s family and new friends (and vice versa)? Can she be into Sam and Jess at the same time? Has moving to Virginia changed her for the better or for worse? And can she and Jess ever regain the closeness that they once had?

This book really reminded me of You Don’t Live Here by Robyn Schneider, so if you liked that book (or really any of Schneider’s books), you should definitely check out Any Place But Here. This book deals with themes such as LGBTQ+, friendship, first loves, coming of age and growing up, and identity. The main take away for me was that you need to be true to yourself and that change doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Reading about June and Sam’s photography classes and assignments was enjoyable; it was interesting to read about how they learned to use vintage cameras with film and how they developed their photographs using a darkroom. The detailed descriptions of the settings were fantastic, especially Claire’s elaborate dorm room ceiling which was decorated with fairy lights to resemble the night sky, and the beautiful river across the street from Oma’s condo and beside June’s school. It was also great to see that all the characters mentioned in this novel were very accepting of anyone who identified as (or came out as) gay or bisexual; that, in and of itself, makes this book a worthwhile read in my opinion.

One critique for Any Place But Here would be that the plot mostly stayed in the same place with June going to school with Kitty and Claire, taking photos with Sam, eating dinner with her Oma, and talking to her family and Jess on the phone, so there didn’t seem to be a lot of dramatic rising and falling action. The plot mainly focuses on June’s increasing awareness of her romantic feelings towards Jess and June’s (mostly) inner struggle to determine her sexual orientation. It would have been nice if the action rose a little more with a greater climax and potentially leading to a more fulfilling ending to June’s story.

Overall, Any Place But Here was a relatively quick and enjoyable read!

I’ve vowed to read more teen & young adult fiction this year, and this book was sublime. It started out strong and kept that momentum throughout. The author has crafted realistic characters, and I enjoyed the dynamic between everyone. There are also vivid descriptions of the surrounding scenery, so you’re able to perfectly imagine the sparkling river that June is looking at. Also, is Harold’s diner a real place? Because it sounds amazing!
The friendship between June and Jess might have been toxic, but it was also so utterly real. I have been involved in friendships like that in my teens and as an adult. I saw so much of myself in June, and I know other readers will too. As you journey with June on her road to self discovery, you’re aware of how far she has come and how much stronger she is, and you’re rooting for her the entire time.

There is a quote that goes along the lines of “you are an average of the people you surround yourself with” and this story showcases that really well.

I think many young readers will find the value in the messages this story portrays - the importance of friends, what true friendship means, personal growth, and identity. While I may be a bit too old to personally relate, I can understand the importance of June's story for those in a similar situation - young adults who are learning how the people they surround themselves with affect their choices and the consequences.

Overall, this is a nice book. Not something that will stick with me personally, but objectively this is decent.

A great book for young adults and teenagers to read about making good choices for yourself and contemplating the value of friendships. I would recommend this to my students. June’s best friend Jess was a bad influence on her and after being ‘asked’ to leave her private school for a drinking incident, her parents decide it might be time for a change of scenery and send her to live with her ‘Oma’ (grandma).

Oma teaches at a private girls school, where June realises she may be falling behind in her studies and embraces photography whilst trying to catch up! She makes three new friends, Sam, claire and kitty who make her reflect on her friendship with Jess and her previous life before joining Oma. A really lovely coming of age story about someone discovering their identity through self reflection. Took a while to really ‘get into’ the book though and I do feel as if the plot was a little predictable.

Rating 4

I really enjoyed this story. "Any Place But Here" started out strong and I knew right away I would like June's character. She was unsure of herself when she wasn't with her best friend Jess. That's because Jess is the leader and the decision maker while June pretty much goes along with anything. June just loves spending time with Jess so when she is forced to move life as she knows it is over. Until June starts living life in a new way, her way and she finds she isn't as miserable as she thought she would be. She starts creating her own path in life by finding new friends, new passions, and a level of self respect. June spends majority of the book being confused with her relationship with Jess along with her new life. But in no way did I find this annoying or to be too much. This was nice because I think a lot of people can relate to June and what she was going through. I am happy that her new friends created a safe place for her to explore her thoughts and feelings without being judged. It is obvious that Jess is not a very good person and her and June have a very toxic relationship. I really enjoyed the supporting characters I thought Kitty, Claire, and Sam were all equally fantastic. How all four of them became friends seemed real and all of their interactions seemed genuine. I liked the scenes with just Sam and June and I am happy that June made all of the right decisions when it came to her actions with him. Overall, this story was enjoyable and I recommend it for anyone who wants a book about self discovery.

**Received an advanced copy through NetGalley in return for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Any Place But Here really drew me in and was a quick read for me. The suggestion that it is a read-alike for Morgan Matson or Sarah Dessen is not undeserved, and it will be the hook that draws in several of my readers. I did feel that the end was a bit rushed and a little too tidy, but I also know my students are craving stories with happy endings right now. Overall, I lean toward 3.5 stars for this title.