I’ve been a huge fan of Ashley Schumacher’s novels so far, so I knew I was going to read this book as soon as I heard it announced for publication. I love the way she writes relationships. All the characters have really specific personalities and interesting ways of relating to one another. It makes the main characters’ friend cosmos seem very real.

This story addresses the trauma of childhood abuse and references Sam’s healing journey through therapy and his adoption into a family. I thought the author presented those sensitively but without romanticizing the harm that abuse causes. Nova recalls seeing bruises and injuries on Sam’s face and arms when they were little. She knew something was wrong but processed it much like a little kid would.


There’s a fair amount of romantic suspense and poor communication in this book. I know that’s a thing for some readers, so be aware if it’s something that would bother you. There are things that would end the story pretty early if the characters sat down and talked to one another.

The miscommunication tropes don’t usually bother me too much, so that wasn’t a hindrance for me. It made sense why Nova and Sam couldn’t be honest with others when they couldn’t even be honest with themselves. Also, weirdly, I think my favorite character was Sam’s girlfriend Abigail. She’s sweet and kind and doesn’t jump to conclusions. She invites Sam to communicate with her but she doesn’t hesitate to call him out when he’s wrong about things. I appreciated that about her a lot.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and its exploration of the gravitational pull between two people and what it means. If you like books with a more subtle, very slow-burn romance, this one will scratch that itch.

This post will go live on October 26, 2024

Another throughly enjoyable, emotionally gut wrenching book from Ashley... she always makes me cry and I love it!

While I did enjoy this - I liked the characters and the plot - it just kind of felt lacking. I dont really know how to explain it. Ashley Schumacher's first two books were captivating and made me feel everything - they were utterly magical. And while I liked In the Orbit of You more than her last release, it just didnt hit the mark in the way i really hoped it would.

Sam is leaving, escaping the house next door with the yelling and bruises, and all the things little kids don't understand. But before he leaves he promises that when he's older he will find his best friend, the little girl next door.

Nova is starting at a new school, that's her thing... new schools. Constantly picking up and moving around Nova plans to blend into the background before its time for her and her mom to move again.

Until she sees him, Sam, the friend, the little boy who made up her childhood.

This book was a cute read, I love Ashley Schumacher's writing.
This one is quite a bit lighter than her other books, but I was all for it.
I loved watching Sam and Nova reconnect, watching as they fell back into their comfortable friendship.

Nova and Sam were childhood best friends, always escaping to their backyards to play. When Sam suddenly moves away, they promise to find each other when they grow up. Years later, Nova and her mom move for what feels like the hundredth time. She goes to her new school, and Sam is there. The two start getting close again despite it going against the individual plans they each had for that year.

Ashley Schumacher writes the most incredible emotional stories. And while this book thankfully didn’t make me ugly cry the way her other books did, it definitely tugged at my heartstrings. The trauma and demons both Nova and Sam had to fight through were heartbreaking, but their friendship was so incredibly special. This unique story really looked at how friendships change over time and situations in a way that is so raw and real. It led to an incredibly beautiful story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

4.5 ⭐️
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I have loved Ashley’s previous books knowing I’m in for a tear out your heart story. This was really sweet and coming of age dealing with a lot of trauma from childhood abuse. So be forewarned if it’s a trigger.
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While sweet and pretty realistic, it didn’t have that full emotion at me like past books. But this still has humor, quirky moments and whimsy. All things I associate with Ashley’s YA books. So much depth and understanding of character and humanistic storytelling.
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These characters could be real. I loved the whole space/orbit because my husband loves space. He always talks about space and how big it is and things like the earth and universe orbit and move through space. So that if you were to tell a genie you want to go back in time, that the space coordinates would need to be exact otherwise you’d be in space in the middle of nowhere. So coincidences and second chances really are rare and close to stars aligning.
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Maybe we’re twin planets and our options are either to distantly orbit the same star or else collide and take everything down with us. [loc 2334]

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This book released earlier this year. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the e-arc copy. These are my own thoughts and opinions.
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Can be a trigger: past childhood trauma and memories, mentions of past physical abuse, mild language including a few F-words, fire

I absolutely loved this book! The relationships are deep and nuanced, and the portrayal of difficult themes like child abuse and trauma is both realistic and respectful. The main character's journey of self-discovery adds a compelling layer to the story. The romance adds just the right amount of tension without overshadowing the plot. Ashley Schumacher has a real talent for evoking strong emotions and making you fall for the characters.

*In the Orbit of You* by Ashley Schumacher is a heartfelt and beautifully crafted story that captures the complexities of love, loss, and self-discovery. Schumacher's tender prose and relatable characters make this novel a compelling and emotionally resonant read.

There is beauty in the unknowing and in the knowing. This book dives into the unpacking of it and the connection between Nova and Sam.

Sam and Nova were childhood friends. Together, they invented an imaginary world called “snailopolis” with adornments in the dirt and, of course, snails. It was largely to take them away from the reality of the bruises and cigarette burns on Sam’s body. The very ones that Nova kissed when Sam moved away to live with his uncle. The two promised to find each other again one day.

Over a decade later, Nova is tired of constantly moving for her mom’s job. She can hardly unpack and forget about making friends. Now, she is at another school in her junior year of high school. But then Nova can’t believe it—Sam is here—it’s her Sam.

This was a very heartwarming story about long-lost friends reunited. Sam and Nova had had an incredible bond. Sam had a horribly abusive home life, and Nova was his refuge, his comfort. But when they reunite, Sam has a new life—he’s a football player with friends and a girlfriend, so Nova does her best not to interfere. But call it fate or destiny, Sam and Nova can’t seem to forget their promise to each other all those years ago.

There are some really cute and touching scenes that melted my heart. I enjoyed both Sam and Nova, but I wouldn’t call this an angsty YA romance. Yes, they started to develop feelings for each other, but you don’t get the tension and heat like in some romances. This is more about the struggle of losing each other for good. While this touches on important and serious topics, it doesn’t get heavy or dark; it’s more about Sam and Nova’s relationship.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you @wednesdaybooks for the gifted ebook via Netgalley.

I thought I could give this two stars, but I started to write this and realized it's a one-star review. I'm so mad because it had so much promise with a cute idea but went down the drain with a cheating trope. To make matters worse, the MMC is cheating with the FMC, but they are doing it "privately so no one gets hurt" (🙄😒 I hate people), and, to make matters even worse, the MMC's girlfriend's previous boyfriend cheated on her. I thought maybe they would be better people, but the emotional cheating went on, which kept losing my interest in pushing through by the 50% mark. By then, I only liked Abagail (the girlfriend) and his two friends. If it weren't a cheating trope, I would have enjoyed the book as the author writes good prose.

'In the Orbit of You' by Ashley Schumacher is a sweet childhood-friends-to-lovers story, which is one of my favourite tropes. I wish the secondary characters had been a little more developed, but I really liked the couple. In all, it was a cute book.

Really sweet YA novel about young love. I was fully swept away by the emotions in book and think readers of all ages will enjoy it!

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Very cute YA novel. The characters are wonderful, flaws and all.

I really loved the characters that the author created, flaws and all. I viscerally felt their attraction to each other.
But I couldn't get over the cheating aspect of the storyline and just wanted Sam to have been honest with his girlfriend.

3.5 Stars

This was a book that sucked me in quickly and kept me wanting to read, but might be hard for some because I think it perfectly captures the messy moments of teenagers on the precipice of ADULT LIFE and how monumental that can feel when fate throws in what appears to be a cosmic connection.

There is a lot of poor teenage decision making around blurring the lines of friendship and cheating, but I felt like it was a truly honest portrayal of how complicated that can feel and how despite best interests, it can be so easy to justify the things you want while trying to be the good person when really, you are making a selfish decision regardless of consequences.

As an adult, I was able to read this with hindsight and it really gave me so much nostalgia and FEELS while also making me scream because my fully developed brain is screaming at Nova and Sammy's totally undeveloped ones like WTF ARE Y'ALLL DOING BUT ALSO I GET IT BECAUSE *FEELS*.

Somewhat of a sidebar on the "cheating" complaints in other reviews. I think this is important and will try to be vague, but wanted to warn you of potential plot spoiling in case this gives too much of the plot away:

My junior and senior year of high school I was with a guy who I really loved and I know he really cared about me. But as we started to go through our senior year and make a lot of big decisions, we were torn in different directions of what we wanted. This made us hold on to something that wasn't really working, mostly out of habit and also because IT'S HIGH SCHOOL AND NO ONE WANTS TO EXPERIENCE THAT ALONE WHEN YOU ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP ALREADY BECAUSE OMG EVERYONE KNOWS Y'ALL AS A COUPLE. So, when he cheated on me, I was heartbroken and STILL tried to hold on to the remnants of what was instead of seeing it as the break he was trying to give both of us.

In this book, Sammy and Nova have a kismet sort of reconnection after being each other's "soulmates" in kindergarten...and I say soulmate because I don't know how else to describe it (the author spends much of the book having the characters try to describe i, ultimately having them realize it's bigger than words. It was love in its purest and kindness form. So when they see each other at the end of high school by complete fate, they are immediately drawn back together. Sammy has a girlfriend, Abigail. Sammy and Abigail are the couple that is classic high school, but Abigail is kind and not mean etc. So it's painful to read from the POVs of Sammy and Nova as they try to be respectful of boundaries while also feeling that they are not in control of fate (and hormones) pulling them together.

I say all of this because while some disparage this book for being a massive cheating trope and for being a horrible example to the targeted audience, I feel like it actually is a great example of what they are feeling and often witnessing in the purest of forms. SO many of us want to be seen as the good person regardless of our actions and attempt to justify them vs owning them and apologizing or instead, for having just been the bad person in the first place. This was a beautiful depiction of this very common moment in so many teenagers' lives.

I was the Abigail. My bf was Sammy. And just like Nova, there was a girl who was kindness and complicated feelings that came in-between the cracks of an already fracturing relationship. While it was HORRIBLE to live out (I didn't handle it nearly as gracefully or as well-adjustedly as Abigail did), this story was all of the feelings I knew I felt throughout that stage of my life. I also was attracted to someone else, blurred the lines, and tried to justify. I just was never caught in these feelings and never fully crossed a line, so somehow I became the good person and victim of a cheating debacle.

Young Aduklt audiences need books like this. Not for the romance of it, but for the ability to share the message of: HEY YOOU ARE AT A TIME IN YOUR LIFE WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE SELFISH AND MAKE DECISIONS THAT HURT OTHERS: CHOOSE THE LEAST DESTRUCTIVE WHEN YOU CAN AND BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS AS YOU NAVIGATE THIS CLUSTERFUCK OF A TIME IN YOUR LIFE.

Obviously, this book resonated with me, a mid-30s person who could be these characters parent, but is sitting right in their feelings with them with the added hindsight of WHOA THIS COULD REALLY GET MESSY. I'll leave you with the following quote from Abigail towards the end of the book, that really captures what I think is the actual heart of this book:

"'You're trying to get out of this and still feel good about yourself,' she says. 'You're trying to justify everything. It's not my job to fix that for you.' ... 'I knew something was wrong and I should have pushed harder, should have <i>made you</i> talk to me or broken things off myself but . . . I thought it could last, you know?'"

and then:

"'You might [get together],' she interrupts. "And maybe you should, but not now. You need to figure out your shit and let her figure out hers, first. That way neither of you gets hurt because of rushing something that need time to brew.'
'I'm sorry, Abigail,' I say again.
Abigail stands, offering her hand to pull me up behind her.
'Don't be sorry,' she says. '<b>Do better.</b>'"

📚 Book Review 📚

A big thank you to #wednesdaybooks for the #gifted copy of #InTheOrbitofYou !!

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📖 In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher

Close friends separated as kids reunite as teens.

What to expect:

💋 Romance
💝 Friends to Lovers
😩 Pining
🐌 Slow Pace

Spice: 🌶️/5

Quick thoughts:

✨ Sparks fly between Nova and Sam.
✨ I wanted more from the story.
✨ A lot of back and forth, will they won’t they.
✨ Felt like nothing really happened.

Overall thoughts:

When Nova and Sam bonded over snails by the fence separating their yards as kids they never thought the day would come where they would be separated. However, it did come and for a good reason as Nova would eventually come to realize.

After years of moving around Nova finally lands in a school where she believes she can just be herself. Fate has other plans though when the boy she thought she’d never see again comes back into her life. As the two teenagers are magnetically drawn together they must decide what their futures will look like and whether or not that means staying together or parting once more.

I was completely absorbed by this story. The premise was so intriguing. The idea of finding love as a child and then being separated was heartbreaking. I couldn’t wait for them to be reunited.

Sparks flew off the page between Nova and Sam. Their chemistry was executed beautifully. I was invested every step of the way.

It wasn’t until about two-thirds of the way through that I realized nothing really had happened in the story. I love character driven novels and this is definitely character driven but it needed something more, something felt missing.

This is a will they won’t they, sweet romance full of pining. I recommend reading it and seeing how you feel about it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Goodreads: 3.85
YA Romance

⁉️ How do you feel about will they won’t they romances?

What a sweet young love and romance between two who are just starting out in life. Bonding over mutual pains the two get closer during school in this lovely novel.

This was a really sweet novel of kids who grew up together and were suddenly moved away from each other reuniting in high school. Can their friendship pick up where it left off or will it not survive the changes to who they are now. I give it 3.5 stars