Ash Gupta is having an amazing senior year, hanging out with his tight circle of friends and cranking out the grades his wealthy, immigrant Asian Indian parents expect. A model student in every way, Ash is on track to earn every school honour there is...except one. It looks as if valedictorian will go to the anti-social, foul mouthed girl who has been a thorn in his side throughout high school, and that's just not a part of Ash's or his parents' plan. Eden Moore's biggest goal is to escape the poverty that haunts her family. When she's not babysitting a special needs boy, managing the high school website, or attending classes, she's studying her ass off. Her perfect GPA should be enough to win her the class valedictorian title, and with it, an endorsement for the full-ride Peyton Scholarship. Eden's sure this is her chance to get out of her dead end town and her trailer park life for good, until she discovers that the arrogant, rich Ash also wants the title and the scholarship that will come along with it - for the f prestige. To both of their surprise, when Eden and Ash are forced to work together on a school project, sparks fly.
As they spend more time together, antagonism changes to romance. They start a secret relationship, even though they're on opposite sides of nearly every social hierarchy their friends and families can imagine - race, class, social status. Can they put all that behind them and start something real?
The Possibility of Somewhere tells the story of Eden, a financially disadvantaged, but stellar student, who was abandoned by her mother. Eden had built a shell of protection around herself in order to protect herself from the rejection of her peers at school and her strained relationship with her father. Her plan was to stay focused, excel at school, earn a college scholarship, and leave Heron. This plan had worked for her until her senior year. First a new student, Mundy, penetrates her wall and she develops a wonderful friendship with her. Then, her feelings regarding her arch nemesis, Ash, morph into more warm and fuzzy feelings.
What I liked: I really liked Eden. She was closed off, but she became more open. She should have been afraid to take chances, but she didn't. Instead, she analyzed and reflected on each situation, and made choices based on reason versus emotions. She had a lot of things working against her, and could be bitter, but she chose to focus on the positives in her life, and forge ahead.
Eden had some very special relationships. I really liked Mundy and her family. They gave a special sort of support to Eden, and Mundy took her out of her comfort zone, which helped her grow. Thank goodness Day gave her Marlene. It was reassuring to know Eden had someone in her corner, and Marlene came to her aid over and over again. I never doubted their relationship.
We also had some diversity in this book. We had the contrast of socioeconomic status, as well as different religions and ethnicities.
What I didn't like: Although there was diversity, I felt like it was surface deep. None of these circumstances were really explored, and thus the characters were also left underdeveloped.
Overall, this was a fine read. I felt some sort of attachment to Eden, and wanted everything to work out for her, but found myself more concerned about her relationship with Mundy than Ash. I feel like if Day had revealed more of Ash, curated his character a little more, I may have cared more.
