I want to start by saying that the cover for this book is WONDERFUL.

Marty is leaving his old life in Avery, Kentucky and starting a new life across the pond in London. Yes, London, England. He’s got his oboe, his anxieties, and his dreams of making something of himself before the summer is over so he never has to return home. In London he can be out, proud, and happy. All the things that he can’t be back home in Avery. Once he gets to London he finds it challenging, but he also finds new friends and maybe in love. When thing’s don’t go according to his very detailed plans (and, they are bullet pointed and he Googled everything) Marty has to decide if he is going to run home or face his fears.

I was drawn into this book the minute I started it. Phil Stamper really hit it out of the park with this book. I enjoyed The Gravity of Us a lot, but this book is so much more than that book. So much better, richer, deeper, uglier, and filled with such honesty that I couldn’t believe it. Marty is on a journey to find himself, but complications come up and he has to face his anxieties in order to really be happy.

Marty has to learn that how to really love and believe in himself, to stand up for himself, and even what real friendship is all about. He learns harsh lessons about being in relationships, and glorious lessons about how wonderful having real friends can be. Marty faces a lot of challenges in his move to London, but he finds that even the most difficult obstacles can be beaten with the help and support of those around you.

Phil Stamper really tackles a few issues with this book: eating disorders, anxieties, toxic friendships and relationships, religion vs sexuality, finding a “chosen family”, and learning that sometimes home is a complicated thing.
I am not an expert on many of these issues, nor do I experience all of them myself, but I really felt like they were handled well. Marty’s eating disorder, why he does it, and his reasoning to keep doing it all frustrated me but I also felt like I understood him. If I were Marty then I would believe my rationalizations as well. And his anxieties! Holy crap, I really felt like this was handled well. Just from personal experiences I really understood Marty and his uneasiness in pushing himself and putting himself out there.

And his conflicts with religion and being gay really struck a cord with me. I really understood this conflict in and out because I went through so much of it myself. Marty’s experiences are definitely worse than mine, but I still really felt for him. The conflicts it causes, the rifts it makes between family and friends. How suffocated it made me feel and how I always was looking for a way out so I could really live. It’s complicated and messy. And I loved all of it in this book.

A few shortcomings I have with this book are the shortcomings with Pierce and how little Shane is used.

Pierce is clearly a troubled kid, with lots of his own problems to work out. This was not his story, I get that. But I would have liked to have seen just a little bit more about him and his POV. The resolution between Marty and Pierce felt a bit forced. Not that Stamper forced it in the writing, but Marty made friends just so things weren’t awkward. I would have liked some more development form Pierce, or maybe a bit more understanding of his character.

And Shane. I really felt like he was under used the whole book. He is an excellent character, and I loved his little side story, but overall he just kind of fell into the background. I think not using Shane more was the wrong choice.