"So hypothetically, if someone had an opportunity to win back the love of his life, an opportunity of, let’s call it, questionable legality, should he take it?”


📖Two Like Me and You 📖
🖋Chad Alan Gibbs
Much thanks to NetGalley, Victory Editing, Borne Back Books and Chad Alan Gibbs for this complimentary copy. This review is voluntary and opinions are fully my own.


📚 Series: No.
📚 Genre: Young Adult (Fame/Adventure/Coming of Age)
📚 POV: First person.
📚 Cliffhanger: No.


⚠ Content Warnings: Use of guns. Kidnapping/Abduction. World War II Stories.
⚠ Read if: you are in need of a funny feel-good YA adventure. Think: John Green-ish.

🌹

Two Like Me and You is an amazing debut novel that will make you laugh out loud and then squeeze your heart in the end.

Edwin Green, a highschool student got dumped when his girlfriend suddenly skyrocketed into fame. He definitely wants to win her back and keeps trying to make himself famous just so she will notice him again.

A history class project got him partnered with Parker Haddaway, his high school's new girl with mysterious past. The project led him to meet Garland Lenox, a World War II veteran stuck in a nursing home whose only wish is to reunite with his long lost love... in France.

This book was a rollercoaster of adventures of this unlikely trio. There's a lot of too-good-to-be-true but ridiculously funny scenes. There's a lot of law breaking reminiscent of a good old comedy film. But very cute and very sweet. It was so easy to read and I felt like it was unputdownable that I read it overnight!

Though Parker fit the Manic Pixie Dream Girl formula that most readers hate, I still fell for her and loved her and it is quite sad to have finished reading this so quickly and not read about her anymore.

I have to commend the very beautiful insights of this book. The connection between the characters were strong. I am sure Edwin grew up a lot from the adventures and all the lessons he learned are lessons that I will also keep close to my heart.

Chad Alan Gibbs did a great job at this debut. Very interested to read his future works!

☁ THE CRITERIA ☁

🌻 Blurb:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Hero:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Heroine:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Support Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Writing Style:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Character Development:⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Romance:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Pacing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Ending:⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Page Turner:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌻 Book Cover:⭐⭐⭐

☁FINAL VERDICT: 4.09/5 ☁

Two like me & you was a great read! Definitely kept me entertained. Epic adventures that made me laugh out loud. You don’t have to be a young adult to enjoy it;)

Two Like Me and You tells the story of how Edwin Green gets roped into a crazy Paris-bound adventure by new girl Parker Haddaway. The pair meets Garland Leno, a World War II veteran, and together the three venture to France in search of Garland’s long-lost love. Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Did it seem to go a bit off the rails at times? Definitely.

This book definitely has all the things: car chases, escaping from police custody, troubled childhoods, a famous ex-girlfriend, an irate old man who happens to be a pathological liar. It’s an entertaining tale, but sometimes I was left thinking, this is insane. I think we probably could have dialed down some of the craziness.

I wish we had dived a little deeper into Parker’s character. I feel like we get only a superficial view of her. Her character is very manic-pixie-dream-girl-esque, which I isn’t my favorite trope. She has never spoken to Edwin and yet after being assigned a project with him, recruits him to help with the plan to go to France because he can drive and speak French (or so she thinks). Throughout the book, we get to see just how quirky she is. She likes singing random rap lyrics, skips school to hang out at the retirement community, and *spoiler alert* thinks she killed her parents. A lot of the time, her character felt like a plot device designed to help Edwin get over his obsession with his famous ex-girlfriend and realize that there’s more more to life.

Edwin’s ex-girlfriend Sadie is the worst. For the life of me, I could not understand why he was so hung up on her, especially after the way she broke up with him. If someone did that to me, I would want to punch them in the face. I wouldn’t — but I’d want to. I did enjoy seeing Edwin’s view of Sadie change by the end of the story, and could appreciate that he seemed to grow as a person.

And Garland was the absolute best! I loved his insane stories (some true, some bald-faced lies) and how at the end he always goes, “You can’t make this stuff up.” Garland has such a big personality and I love that he’s willing to put everything on the line to find his long-lost love. I also enjoyed how he was willing to give everyone, including police officers, sass. His character really added a fun element to the book. He also made me realize how few characters from an older generation exist in the YA genre. We need more!

This book was a breath of fresh air. The concept was unlike anything I’ve read and I greatly enjoyed the action-packed adventure.

Two like Me and You is the feel-good YA novel that the year 2019 needs. And that's the statement.

Before I jump with my review for this book, let me just extend my gratitude to Chad Alan Gibbs and Victory Editing for writing and publishing this gem. Huge thanks also to NetGalley for approving my request to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two like Me and You is like a fresh fruit juice you suddenly had in your hand after a week of walking in the desert. Yeah, this book is definitely refreshing. It has all the elements I want in a book - romance, heartbreak, adventure, escapade, history, and touch of reality. Chad Gibbs perfectly mixed all these ingredients beforehand hence the amazing result is, with no doubt, perfectly presented as well.

The moment I read the gist before requesting this book, my attention was fully engaged. Talking about a hopeless romantic teenage guy who desperately wants to win his ex-girlfriend's attention back with an additional twist of a complete stranger who suddenly became a friendly savior plus a whole mix of adventure to Paris. Who wouldn't want to read a book so flavorful like this?

Also, the characters are uniquely relatable in their own ways. Edwin Green is the hopeless romantic most of us may have been at some point of our life while Sadie Evans is the image of the love of our life we so desperately want to end up with but for no apparent reason, the universe decided to not let our wish be. Parker Haddaway, or should I say Emily Bloom, represented us in a way how the society always judges a person through the cover but also an admirable character for her strong take on not letting others' thinking affect your whole persona.

But Garland and Madeleine's World War II love story is what sold me with this book mostly. How our young MCs crossed path with a WWII veteran who also happened to be in search for his long-lost love one if not being imprisoned in a seniors facility in Alabama. The sequence of this book also make me realize on how true the butterfly effect is, and how all of our main characters' action continued to ripple all throughout the book which started with a simple written project about World War II.

And of course, the writing is commendable as well. The way Chad Gibbs written this book is truly impactful and most of the sentences will either leave you rolling on floor laughing (yeah, I can't make this shit up, son) or silently sobbing because the words are wonderfully woven in an intricate pattern.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and devoured it in one sitting after an overnight shift. So if you are into teenage romance with a whole lot of adventure and escapade plus a sprinkle of World War II love story and a lot of unquestionable backstories, then this book should definitely be on your TBR. Ciao.

RATING: 5stars

This was such a unique story and something I haven’t come across before which is always refreshing. The plot was exciting and fun.

For me it started off a little slow but once once I started getting into it I couldn’t put it down.

I loved Parker’s personality, she’s confident, quirky and fiercely independent. Edwin has been spending his time pining over his now famous ex girlfriend Sadie. They meet Garland a WWII veteran who convinced them to take him to Paris to search for his long lost love and from there begins their adventure.

I really enjoyed this fun, unique young adult novel, it had the perfect amount of suspense along with strong likeable main characters and I’m very much looking forward to reading more from Chad Alan Gibbs.

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

Edwin Green. A young man whose heart was broken one year ago by Sadie Even, now one of the most famous teen stars in the world. Edwin now tries dodge any questions about his ex, but has a secret fantasy of becoming famous himself and winning her back. He has set up a YouTube channel and posts videos of his daily happenings; the problem is that he only has half a dozen followers, so far.

Parker Haddaway. The new girl at school who keeps to herself. 7 schools in 4 years will do that to a kid. She's turned down countless "cool guys" for dates. Yet, when the history teacher announces a new assignment to interview someone who remembers WW2, she immediately chooses Edwin as her partner.

Garland Lenox. A nonagenarian WW2 veteran who lives at the old folks home where Parker's aunt works. His stories are crazy... but there might be some truth in some of them. One that he keeps repeating is the story of getting shot down over France just before D-Day and being sheltered by a beautiful woman named Madeleine.

They comprise the most unlikely crew and set out on a covert mission to fly over the Atlantic to find Garland's lost love.

Let me tell you all the ways I loved this book:

Three distinct voices that are funny, original, and heartfelt.

"In which our hero complains about his assigned seat" -  an example of one of the witty chapter headlines that kept looking for clues.

Hidden and not so hidden references to 90s hip hop, movie quotes, and all kinds of historical mishaps.

A wild romp of a plot.

Seventy years of feelings...

An ode to rebirth, a new start, and a man's last wish.

Pick up this YA novel that is authentic and pure!

5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Borne Back Books, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

A seamless blend of outlandish stories, WWII, and love, this book was a quick, but enjoyable read! The first person perspective is immersive and the short chapters keep pacing moving forward. I loved Edwin as a character, and getting inside his head was so fun! This is a book I will be rereading in the future and that I will be suggesting for all my YA contemporary-reading friends.

I absolutely loved this book! It is a fast paced romp full of action, intrigue and romance. The characters were engaging and endearing. The story, while often wildly implausible, was extremely entertaining. I loved the diversity in age, personality and cultures. I loved the history that was included. And it should definitely be made into a movie. Fabulous!

This book is laugh out loud hilarious. Every twist and turn had me laughing throughout this story.

This story focuses on Edwin Green, a boy who is known for having his heart broken by his ex-girlfriend who ran away to be a famous star. Enter Parker, a girl that Edwin is partnered with to interview WWII veterans for a class project. When the pair meet and get to know Garland Lennox...the rest is history.

I don't want to say too much because going into this book without knowing much leaves it open for fun, hysterical surprises. Highly recommend this book.

This book was so good and sweet. It sort of reminds me of a John Green novel. I found myself laughing out loud. That’s why I love YA novels. They are so innocent. I felt like I was talking with my grandfather, at times. It brought back some really good memories.

I received an Advanced Review Copy of Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs from the publisher Borne Back Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Edwin Green's is still suffering heartbreak after his ex-girlfriend becomes famous and dumps him. He's convinced that if he can become famous, he will win her back. Then a quiet girl, Parker, in his class with a secret approaches him: she has a plan that will get him famous. There's an elderly WWII veteran, Garland, who is desperate to find his long lost love from the war in France. So Parker and Edwin are to break Garland out of the nursing home and fly to France. But chaos ensues.

What I Loved: If you're willing to suspend disbelief over teenagers breaking a 90 year old man out of nursing plane and flying him to France, then this book is hilarious. I literally laughed out loud several times. The shenanigans these three get themselves into are hilarious and the characters, particularly Garland are so well developed, you are just cheering for them. This book would make a perfect movie. I absolutely loved it.

What I didn’t like so much: Some of the shenanigans are a bit unbelieveable and how they get away with all of the things they do seems unrealistic but if you can deal with that you will find a fun journey.

Who Should Read It: People who love unlikely heroes. People who like adventures. People who like old loveable crummudgeon characters. People who can suspend disbelief for the sake of humor and enjoyment.

General Summary: A fun adventure book with really loveable characters.

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

Edwin Green’s ex-girlfriend is famous. We’re talking cover-of-every-tabloid-in-the-grocery-store-line famous. She dumped Edwin one year ago on what he refers to as Black Saturday, and in hopes of winning her back, he’s spent the last twelve months trying to become famous himself. It hasn’t gone well.

But when a history class assignment pairs Edwin with Parker Haddaway, the mysterious new girl at school, she introduces him to Garland Lenox, a nursing-home-bound World War II veteran who will change Edwin’s life forever.

The three escape to France, in search of the old man’s long-lost love, and as word of their adventure spreads, they become media darlings. But when things fall apart, they also become the focus of French authorities. In a race against time, who will find love, and who will only find more heartache?

Review

I would like to thank the author for a copy of Two Like Me and You in exchange for an honest review. Receiving an advanced copy of the novel did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Alright, so I know what you are thinking… “David, this is so unlike you. Where are the swordy stab-stab battles? What about the pew-pew, die-die spaceship duels? Wait, have you gone soft? Did Kealan Patrick Burke scare you off of horror novels for good?”

To be honest, I am even a bit surprised myself. But when Chad reached out and said that he had a new novel in the works, I had to check it out. You see, Chad has written a few books already, mostly having to do with religion, football in the south, and some of the greatest sports rivalries of our age, but under a slightly different name. He also used to write an award-winning weekly column in a local paper when I was in college that I read religiously. To be it in perspective, I have read most of his works and he has to be one of THE funniest people I’ve ever come across.

Suffice it to say, this was a no-brainer.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I had some reservations about reading a YA novel, especially one concerning falling out of and back into love. It just really isn’t my forte. I mean, maybe my wife’s, but CERTAINLY, not mine. But I digress.

Gibbs absolutely captured me from page one, what with his comically foreshadowed chapter headlines, characters I became enamored with, and a gut-punchingly inspiring story that I could not put down. You can ask the Mrs. I literally kept picking this book back up over the course of Friday evening/Saturday day and finished it quicker than any other book I have reviewed over the past four (4) years.

Two Like Me and You is destined to become the “next big thing” in Teen/Young Adult coming-of-age fiction. I would put Gibbs up there with the John Greens and Stephen Chboskys of the world. It wouldn’t surprise me if you see this book on the big screen, capturing the hearts of teens and young adults everywhere; not to mention grownups. It is hilarious, heart-wrenching, and absolutely beautiful. Just read it.

A great story with wonderful characters , an even better story and amazing writing. Fast paced I couldn’t put this down, thoroughly recommend you read this.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I received an ARC of Two Like Me and You through NetGalley. This book will be released on 05/20/19, published by Borne Back Books.

The book follows Edwin Green, Parker Haddaway, and Garland Lenox. Edwin is your typical nerdy teenager, complete with low self-esteem. This is made worse by the break-up he suffered at the hands of his first girlfriend, who now happens to be a famous celebrity. Parker and Edwin join forces for a history project, where she introduces him to Garland. Garland talks them into going to France with him to find his long lost love, a woman who helped him recover from a leg injury during WWII. The media catches wind of their quest, and the rest is a mess of police officers and news reporters.

I wanted to like this story. I absolutely love the cover-it's the reason I requested the book. This read like John Green, but not as good. The first 15% of the book felt like backstory, but it wasn't pertinent to the plot. The story was slow to take off, and by the time it did I had mostly lost interest. I understand why Edwin's ex girlfriend was a part of the plot, but it just didn't connect to the rest of the story. I liked Garland's story. I really wanted more of that but the end felt rushed for him. Parker's backstory didn't really make sense or connect to the rest of the plot. Overall I wanted more from what I thought was a really great story line.

If you enjoy YA books, you'll probably enjoy this one too. For me, it was just okay.

🌟🌟🌟

I was lucky enough to recieve an arc of this book and I absolutely it! It was laugh out loud funny!! I laughed, I cried, I sang any book that can make me feel all of that deserves a 5 star rating! I can't believe this is his debut book!

I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book a lot!!
These characters are incredibly created.
I fell in love with them and I felt like I was there along with them on their journeys.
The pacing is amazing and the plot made this book impossible to put down.
Fully deserved 5 stars.

Two like me and you
Chad Alan Gibbs
Young Adult Fiction

A really good fun read.
I reviewed this book for Netgalley.

Edwin Green is a perfectly average American boy, with a perfectly average American girlfriend, until she becomes famous and disappears from his life. Understandably Edwin does not want to talk about Sadie Evans, who is in every gossip magazine and what feels like every TV channel one way or another. Meanwhile a red headed girl, gaining gossip like a rock gathers moss, appears in some of Edwins classes. Parker (red headed girl) singles out Edwin for a school project, out of the blue. But she doesn’t speak to anyone so why Edwin Green and why now?
The story begins relatively slowly building a wonderful suspense of what possibly could happen next.

The characters bond and develop all in good time and it gave me a good sense of their humour and personalities. I loved Edwin Greens headspace! The writing gives a great perception about what he’s all about.
Twists and turns that made me smile numerous times along with sadness and strong emotion for such a sweet story.
The more I read the more I wanted to know.
I’d recommend this book, I already have to my daughter. I could see this book being made into a film.
I look forward to reading more By Chad Alan Gibbs.

"Two Like Me and You" is such a fun and entertaining book! I'd like to thank NetGalley for a copy of this book to read and review. This is the story of three unlikely people who come together for the adventure of a lifetime...and boy does this adventure have heart. Parker is the girl most likely to beat you up if you ask her on a date. Edwin Green is known for having his heart broken by his ex-girlfriend who ran away to be a movie star/singing star. Parker and Edwin get together for a class project to interview WW2 vets. Enter the amazingly well developed character of 90 year old Garland Lenox. Garland lives in a nursing home and can tell some tall tales....probably most of them are too tall....as he frequently adds "You can't make this stuff up". Garland has some money and some time on his hands and he dreams of finding his long lost love in Paris. Parker dreams of adventures and getting away and Edwin dreams of getting famous. So why not just disappear one ditch their families, schools, and nursing homes and go to Paris? Oh and they may be breaking a lot of laws while doing so.... I will stay away from saying much more because that would only include spoilers. But this book has an intriguing plot line and will tug at your hearts strings! The relationships among all three of our main players is beautiful to see unfold across the pages. I agree with others who've compared this book to the works of John Green- but-I think I like his better than most of John Green's books. Still the pacing felt off in a few spots and sometimes the normally witty and lovely dialogue would get lengthy and distract me. Still this book is a huge winner and I enjoyed it a lot! I will keep my open for any future books from Chad Alan Gibbs!

· “If you’re not too long, I will wait for you here all my life.” ·

Reading this book was an epic adventure! I had a great feeling about this since I read the blurp on Netgalley and I decided to request a copy right away and—oh, boy! It was, as the French would say, très magnifique!

Behind every crazy idea, there’s an even crazier couple of individuals—in this case, Garland and Parker. (To be honest, I can’t quite decide which one of them I like best!) But, most importantly, there’s a compelling reason that renders you unable not to go to unimaginable lengths just to see it through. In the case of Parker, that’s the promise of a new life; in the case of Edwin Green—who’s very reluctant to get on board with pretty much every situation he finds himself in—, the quest for fame that will allow him to win his ex-girlfriend back; and in the case of our grumbling Garland surely the search for answers. Regardless what your important end goal is, there’s little to nothing that’ll stand in your way. You’ll break out of a nursing home, or lie to your parents and run away to France, of course. And just because one thing leads to another, you’ll also still cars, break international driving regulations, avoid every authority, and (to sum it up) break tons of laws.

But you’ll also find yourself in ways you’ve never imagined before. By doing things so uncharacteristic of you, you’ll discover who you really are and form deep bonds with your partners in crime. At least, that much is true for Edwin Green. Since the moment he started working with Parker for a History project and met Garland Lenox, Edwin should have known his life had just changed for good. But it takes an entire week in France, full of the most-unlikely-to-ever-have-happened stories Garland tells him, for Edwin to realize that. One thing’s for sure—no matter what happens in France, afterwards nothing will ever be the same.

I must say I loved this book more than I could have ever anticipated. The characters are amazingly crafted, making the reader take their side and cheer for them to kick the laws’ ass (and that awful lawyer’s, too!) and to continue on their quest. At ninety, Garland is more alive than many people out there and I loved that about him. Parker, in spite of all her past trauma, is a strong, cheerful and kind girl who just wants a fair chance at life. And Edwin is a very sensitive boy who’s trying to get over his first heart-ache while his mind is at constant war between good and bad (or, in this case, legal and ilegal!). All in all, the pages of this book are full of adventure, laughter, tears and so much adrenaline! Full of love, life and pain. Full of hope. Till the last moment. And beyond.

A very good, engaging and entertaining book.
It's well written, the likable characters are fleshed out and the plot keeps you hooked till the last page.
Even if it's classified as YA it can be fully appreciated by adults as it's a such a good book.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.