Meet Me in the Middle follows Eden and Truman who are on the bring of starting an epic romance when tragedy tears them apart. Eden has always had her best friend Katie at her side and needed no one else. But Katie’s older brother, Truman, the elusive artist with the gorgeous eyes, was always at the back of her mind. They never really interacted—until the night of Katie’s accident. With Katie in the hospital and Truman fleeing from his grief without so much as a goodbye, Eden is left to deal with her own pain and guilt about that night on her own. But when Truman returns to the city, will she be able to let him back into her life after their first kiss blew their world apart?
What struck me about extraordinary in this novel was the depiction of grief and learning how to live with a loss that you don’t know whether it’s going to be a permanent one. Both Eden and Truman still hope that Katie will wake up, but both have to come to terms with the fact that it might not be the case and that they’ve lost her for good. The way both Eden and Truman drift through life without really taking anything in (until they meet again) felt so relatable. Navigating the circumstances and the grief of Katie’s accident is terribly difficult and Light depicts this grief with an expert hand. As we follow Eden and Truman, we get to see just how impossible it feels to process the unexpected loss and how to relate to the other. Eden and Truman have very differing reactions and coping mechanisms to deal with Katie’s absence and I loved that we got to see these seemingly oppositional ways of dealing with grief and how they slowly begin to understand why the other is handling it the way they are. To me, this was definitely the strength of this novel: showing that grief is complicated and isn’t always the same experience for everyone but that it can, ultimately, bring people together and engender true support and empathy.
There’s also the compelling storyline of Eden feeling guilt over Katie’s accident because she associates it with Truman and her finally getting involved. Grief taints everything it touches and often skewers perspectives and even though as the reader you know that’s not what caused the accident, it makes for great storytelling to watch Eden gradually accept that it wasn’t her fault the accident happened. Similarly, I really enjoyed the plotline with Truman expressing his feelings through his art—there was a lot to glean from the loss of control he felt and I think that will resonate with a lot of readers, especially if they’re grieving for someone who is still very much alive.
Honestly, my only gripe with this book is the pacing. Some choice made for the trajectory of the novel didn’t make much sense as I was reading—for example, without spoiling too much, the first half of this book felt incredibly drawn out with key moments that could have been condensed to up the pacing whereas the ending to Meet Me in the Middle was so rushed that I was kind of stumped and wondered where the rest of the narrative’s resolution ended up. All that being said, though, I did read this book in one setting because I was so invested, so while the pacing wasn’t my favourite, it also didn’t make me put down the book.
All in all, Meet Me in the Middle is a thought-provoking and poignant exploration of the ways in which we grieve and how tragedy can bring people together in the most unexpected of ways.
Meet Me in the Middle is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 12th 2022.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A romance interrupted by tragedy sets two people on different paths in Wattpad superstar Alex Light’s latest YA romance.
Eden had her best friend Katie—she didn’t need anyone else. But then there was Truman.
Katie’s older brother, the artist. The recluse. The boy with the innocent smile and the dangerous eyes.
Eden had never really known Truman—not until the night of Katie’s accident. That was the night they’d finally let each other into their orbits—only to have the sky come crashing down on them.
With Katie in the hospital and Truman fleeing from his grief without a word, Eden is left alone to grapple with her own pain. But when Truman returns to the city, can Eden let him back into her life knowing that their first kiss is what tore their world apart?
Wattpad superstar Alex Light is back with another poignant romance perfect for fans of Jennifer Dugan and Laura Taylor Namey.
