The Truth about You & Me

by Amanda Grace

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

This is my second book by Amanda Grace, and it will certainly not be my last! The Truth About You and Me was simply fantastic! I'm very interested in student-teacher relationships, so this was a must read for me. It also grabbed my attention because, like me, Madelyn is starting community college at 16 years old. She's still technically enrolled in high school, but she's taking college classes for credit at both schools. There she meets Bennett, her sweet and gorgeous Biology professor. There's an undeniable attraction there from the beginning, but anything between them is sadly forbidden. Doubly forbidden, since she's underage and his student. However, Bennett restrains himself and says they have to wait until the quarter ends and Madelyn is no longer in his class. He doesn't know she's 16 though. They spend the next 10 weeks really getting to know each other, until one night ruins everything.

The first thing that I loved about The Truth About You and Me was that it's told in second person! It's formatted as a letter to Bennett from Madelyn as she unpacks all of the lies and tries to set their story straight. I really wish more books were written this way. It felt much more personal and real, getting Madelyn's feelings and all of the events straight from her. The only drawback was there were no natural stopping points. There is a break at around 77% where she starts a new letter, but that's kind of far in. However, that didn't even matter because I didn't want to stop reading at any point! I did briefly to eat lunch, but that was it. It was so easy to fall back into Madelyn's letter and the heartbreaking story she has to tell.

I do have to mention that Madelyn and Bennett are not together for most of The Truth About You and Me. Most the book is focused on them simply hanging out, which is already kind of toeing that line between innocent and inappropriate behavior. There's also a lot of attention on Madelyn's feelings, not only concerning her growing feelings for her professor, but on her life in general. Her parents have essentially mapped out her entire future, and it's not what she wants. Talking to Bennett really helps her see that, and she finally has someone who understands where she's coming from. She may be in college, but she has no clue what she wants to do beyond that, and that's okay. Her relationship with Bennett really helped her with her self esteem and being able to stand up to her parents, even as it almost ruined his life.

I won't go into the details of the ending, but I liked it. It's not over-the-top or a dramafest. It's just a very real consequence to Madelyn and Bennett's actions. The letter format actually does spoil The Truth About You and Me, since we know right from the beginning something had to have gone wrong. However, it's not how I was expecting, and the outcome was different than what my mind had conjured up. The big climax was a little weird, but I was so caught up in Madelyn's emotions that I didn't really care. I'm sure these kinds of things happen, so whatever. I liked the ending, and that's that. I just loved this book in general.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.