More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer follows a favorite character from Kemmerer's other book, Letters to the Lost, and a new girl with a knack for coding. Rev struggles daily with the abuse he suffered from his father, but manages to keep his life under control with the help of his adoptive parents. Meanwhile, Emma struggles with someone sexually harassing her online and her parents' failing marriage. After they meet, Rev and Emma learn to trust another person.

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer was one of my favorite contemporary books of 2017. When I saw More Than We Can Tell on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. Rev was one of the most interesting characters in Letters to the Lost and I couldn't wait to hear more of his story. This book met all of my high expectations and I can see it ranking as one of my favorite contemporaries of the year.

One of the strongest aspects of Brigid Kemmerer's books are the character development. Rev's is a complex character with a well-thought out backstory and realistic responses and actions to the abuse he suffered as a child. My appreciation and love for Rev's character grew even more throughout this book. I also liked how readers get to see the closure of Rev's story line with his father in this book.

As for the other main character, Emma, I didn't feel like she was as well-developed as Rev. Sometimes how Emma treats other characters in the novel doesn't make her exactly likable, especially how she throws some things in Rev's face. Additionally, I think some people may be annoyed with how she handles some events that take place in the novel. However, I appreciated that her actions actually resembled how a person her age would respond.

Like Letters to the Lost, More Than We Can Tell handles serious topics very well. This book covers physical abuse, mental abuse, and sexual abuse and how they effect the victims of them. I especially liked how this book dealt with some of the abuse Emma faces online. Readers the same age as Emma may experience what she deals with online as write it off in the same way that "it just happens." However, I like how this book combats that stance.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading More Than We Can Tell. Once I started this book, I literally did not stop reading until I finished it. I give More Than We Can Tell five out of five stars.

*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Move over, Sarah Dessen! Brigid Kemmerer may just be becoming my new favorite contemporary YA author. I first read her Letters To The Lost, which I loved and gave a solid 4/5 stars. (I tend to rate contemporaries a little lower because I'm very strict about what I like too see in them and so a 4/5 is a VERY GOOD rating coming from me.) Now that I've read this one, I can tell you that it's not a fluke! This one was just as good! I really enjoyed it.

There's something about this author's writing style that I really admire. I can't put my finger on it, but it's just flows so well and feels so real and authentic that I find it hard to stop reading her stories once I pick them up. I get fully immersed into her characters' problems and then I'm hooked.

If you've read Letters To The Lost, then you'll know that the male lead in this book was one of the amazing side characters in that book. For a sidekick, he was so unique and well-developed; I was elated when I found out he was getting his own book! I was even more ecstatic when I was approved for an e-arc copy on Net Galley, and got to read it several months early. Sa-weet!

I love the character of Rev Fletcher. I've read a lot of YA contemporaries in my days, and I think it's safe to say that I've never encountered a dude like Rev before. He has a very unique situation. He's a somewhat-emo, tall and skinny, white foster kid whose amazing foster parents are seriously the nicest people ever. There's nothing wrong with my parents, but I'm pretty jealous. They're that great. Oh, and they just so happen to be black. Diversity? Check!

Anywho, back to Rev. He's suffering from PTSD, thanks to his shitty childhood with his abusive bible thumping father. His perfect world gets flipped on its head when he receives a letter from his father out of the blue one day. Suddenly, all of his old wounds seem to be (metaphorically) splitting open at the seems. And trust me, he's got tons of them. He's covered in various scars, burns and even a nasty tattoo that his prick of a father sliced into him at one point. As a result, he wears a hoodie and long sleeves every day of his life - even in the dead of summer. The kids at school call him "The Grim Reaper." I call him perfection.

Moving on, our female lead is a gamer girl called Emma. She secretly created an entire fricking video game from scratch. One that hundreds of people love to play! She hasn't shared this information with her video game designer father or her technology hating mother though. She refuses to do so until it's absolutely perfect.

Her problems? She is being harassed by a player named Nightmare. Oh, and typical to a lot of teens out there, she and her parents don't always see eye to eye. Back to her first problem, I really think that the author did an amazing job of accurately portraying the way that females get treated, not just online whilst gaming, but online in general. For some strange reason, guys think that they can sexually harass someone online, just because they're a girl. I've actually stopped using my real picture on most sites, because guys think that's an invitation for them to send you creepy messages. It really isn't fair and hopefully one day this will change.

One complaint about Emma's character is that she was not all that likable at times. I felt for her, I really did, but she tended to overreact, in my opinion. Everyone has problems, in real life and in this book, but she acted like hers, which were somewhat small in comparison to others, were the end of the world. If she was upset, she would try and immediately reach out to others for support. If there was no one around to help, she would get desperate and that, ultimately, lead to big trouble for her. Girl! Relax. Take a deep breath. It's normal to be upset. Can't you keep your own company and cry to yourself for a few hours until someone responds to you? Chill.

Like I mentioned earlier, the parents in this book rocked. Okay, not all of them. Rev's dad can choke on a chicken nugget for all I care, but at least he was there! I feel like in most typical YA books the parents are nowhere to be found. There are just wild teenagers running around everywhere who sprouted up from the earth like a potato. Nobody gave birth to them. They just magically exist. The author took great care to make her parents not only present, but amazing characters in their own respects. Thank you! Yay for realistic families!

The bromance in this book between Rev and Declan was EVERYTHING! I loved their friendship and the bond that they shared. They're so close and they don't worry what other people think of their relationship. I feel like a lot of teenage boys try not to get too close to their friends so that they don't come across as gay, (idiots!) but these two didn't care what anybody thought of them. They even slept in the same bed at one point. I wish I had a friend that close. Loved them!

The romance between the two main characters was decent. Like a said, Emma was not my favorite, but the two of them together worked just fine. (I'd rather be Rev's girlfriend but whatevs. It's fine!) The two helped each other during very rough times in their lives and it was exciting to see how it all went down. There was an especially adorable scene where the two sat back to back and texted one another because, ya know, words are hard. I loved that.

Something that I really appreciated in this book was the honest exploration of religion and what it means to different people. It showed the good and the bad side of Christianity. Rev is a Christian. He is not one of those overly preachy morons who drive me to drink. His best friend is quite possibly an Atheist. Neither of them judged one another for their beliefs. Amen for religious diversity!

The book lost me for a bit in the very middle. There was just so much teenage angst. I was afraid the whole book would derail, but it quickly found its way back onto the tracks of awesomeness and all was well. I couldn't really relate to some of Emma's problems (namely her parents' divorce), but it was nice to be able to try and empathize with her heartaches.

The last 10% or so of this book got terribly exciting. I was biting my nails in suspense and flailing all over the place until it was resolved. I won't tell you what happens, but I will say this: DON'T FRIGGIN MEET UP WITH A STRANGER YOU MET ON THE INTERNET!

Come on, Emma! You're better than this. They teach you about stranger danger in Kindergarten. Gah, you're so desperate at times. lol It was frustrating. But, hey! I learned something new in this book. If you're ever attacked, don't run away. Hug the shit out of that potential killer so that you're too close to them for them to have room to attack you. You may even make a new friend. ;) No? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book. It felt similar in scope to Eliza And Her Monsters, so if you liked that book, be sure to check this one out when it drops in March.

Ok wow, I wasn’t expecting so many feels when I picked this book up. Call me crazy but I don’t read summaries all that much so I had no idea that this book was a companion novel to Letters to the Lost (which I loved!) so I was ecstatic when I saw Rev’s name!
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With that being said, I don’t really think it’s necessary to read Letters to the Lost first technically before reading this book, but I definitely recommend it just because it’s such a great book and it lays the groundwork for Rev’s character and I think you would understand him on a better level during this book.
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I was kind of hesitant on Emma at first, but she grew on me. I did get a little frustrated at her a few times because she was so naive about some things that were happening in her life and I just wanted to scream at her to get help. But she’s sixteen and I’m trying to be more understanding of her situation and her thought process.
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I was glad to get to see a bit of Declan and Juliet in this book! There was also a new character introduced, Matt, and I’m hoping we get to see a glimpse of him in a future book!
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Overall, this was a heartbreaking book and I loved every second of it. I don’t want to say much to avoid spoilers but I will say that I’m happy with way things turned out.

More Than We Can Tell is a companion novel to Letters to the Lost. It lives in the same universe, contains some of the same characters, and the story takes place after the events in Letters to the Lost but it is not a sequel in the normal sense of the word. And for that, I admire Kremmerer that much more. She's written a story that stands entirely on it's own, contains characters that are rich and nuanced, and leaves readers wishing for more. A story about Matthew would certainly be intriguing.

I always want more when I read this authors books. She makes you care about the characters and you want to understand how they got to be the person they are today. It is the same with Rev and Emma. How did they get here and where will they end up. Can't wait for this authors next book.
Goodreads

I loved this book about Emma & Rev just as much as I did Juliet’s and Declan’s story. I was even a bit surprised by twists in the predictions I had made about a couple of situations.