Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is a fun, summery and cute read about friendship and becoming your own person. It’s sweet and well written and engaging, but more details about the book below!

About the book. 

SUMMARY

Emily’s best friend Sloane disappears without a trace and the only thing that has been left behind is a to do list with thirteen tasks that shy and awkward Emily would never do. However, what if completing the tasks brought Sloane back?

I gave this book three stars because I don't really do half stars on my ratings however I will say it was on the higher side of three stars for me. I had a lot of trouble choosing between whether to give it three stars or four and originally, when I was reading the book, I was ready to give it four stars but once I finished it, I don't think I can give it a four. But I'll explain why below!

So a little context on the book, this is my very first Morgan Matson book. I have heard such lovely things about her writing, especially this book and I was really excited to read it. I read it over the course of, I believe 5 days which is slow for me but I was quite busy with other commitments such as school and blogging.

COVER

Morgan Matson’s books are known for their gorgeous covers I think and this one wasn’t an exception. I love how well it related to the stories, how the girls on the front cover look very similar to the girls in the stories and I also really love the back cover with the two friends lying on a park table, just talking.

What this book did, which I think I adored more than anything, was take the ordinary things and make them really extraordinary but I’ll get onto that more below.

WRITING

The writing of this was fun and light and very relatable and accurate. Morgan Matson’s writing had such a good flow to it and made every mundane thing Sloane and Emily did together very interesting. I feel she very accurately represented the bond between the two friends too and expressed their friendship beautifully. The way she described the time of summer and portrayed it to be really had me wishing that it wasn’t currently winter in Australia. It was light and fluffy and sweet and very airy, almost.

The one thing I will say is that the character development, which I felt had to do a lot with the writing, wasn’t very gradual. At one point in the book Emily is a wallflower. At the next point, she suddenly becomes a very bold person. I don’t feel the character development that was supposed to happen in the middle really did happen, which was disappointing since the book was all about how Emily comes out of her shell. I wanted a little more description and it to be a little less rushed, if I’m being honest towards the end of the book.

IDEA

I adored the idea behind this book. It was creative and very well presented and I have never read anything similar. I liked the list and what it represented for Emily and how it helped her overcome her awkwardness. I also loved the idea of best friends.

It’s really rare to read such good books on friendships (or any books, if I’m honest because most of them seem to have boy/girl relationships as the main focus) and this was really one of them. I liked how everything was centred around the unbreakable bond of the girls rather than boys, college, future and such.

As mentioned above, this book really took the ordinary and made it extraordinary. On the back of the book, there is an image of Emily and Sloane lying on a park table and talking. The girls do many other simple things such as go to flea markets and eat ice cream together. Morgan Matson took such mundane activities and made them so special to the two friends and really showed the bond between them. They do such simple things together and make them really fun. (If you get what I mean, I’m not sure how else to put it.)

It was truly heart-warming.

PLOT

The plot started off great. It was creative, relatable, fun and engaging. I was supremely hooked. I was left thinking about what was to happen next and mulling over what had already happened, coming up with a thousand and one scenarios.

However, I feel the book got quite rushed towards the end. As mentioned above, Emily’s character changes suddenly and begins ticking things off her list so fast and without hesitation. Just like that, she makes new friends. There are so many unanswered questions about Sloane’s disappearance and her reason for leaving is not very plausible. I felt it really got off the original topic which was about friendship and being your own person.

The whole pace of the book suddenly sped up and at times got a little clunky and awkward as she transitioned from chapters, which ruined the effect of the book for me. 

CHARACTERS

Emily is such a cute character, I feel. She’s relatable and awkward and I can see a lot of myself in her. I liked her as a protagonist and I liked watching her gain the courage to tick things off the list (despite it getting rushed towards the end).

Sloane was another awesome character and I loved how much she cared about Emily. She was fun and outgoing and completely the opposite of Emily however I felt they were very good together as they complemented each other.

Frank is the last character I am going to talk about. He is sweet and seems like a nice guy.

If you’re wondering why my character discussion is so short, it’s because I didn’t feel too connected to the characters. While they’re nice and well written, I didn’t fall head over heels in love with the characters themselves.

I will say however, that the relationship between Sloane and Emily is something I really envy and wish I had for myself because despite only being friends for 2 years, they are incredibly close! The author seemed to focus more on writing the bonds between the characters rather than the characters, which lead to me not really adoring the characters but rather loving the friendship between them. 

FINALLY…

Since You’ve Been Gone is a very well written and beautiful book about friendship and summer and learning to be your own person. It’s sweet and enjoyable and engaging, and a must read, despite the few problems I had with it!

I adored it and cannot wait to read some of her other books.