Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith

Title:  Back When You Were Easier to Love
Author:  Emily Wing Smith
Pages: 304
Genre: YA/ Teen
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

WHO ZAN IS:
Blow-your-mind brilliant.  Stop-your-heart gorgeous. Hold-your-breath clever. 

WHO ZAN WAS:
Joy’s boyfriend. 

WHY JOY NEEDS HIM BACK:
So she can breathe again. 

WHAT THAT MEANS:
An elaborate road trip involving a SAAB 900, Sprite, and Barry Manilow. Oh, and Noah, Zan’s irritating-but-almost-charming ex-best friend. Original and insightful, quirky and crushing, Joy’s story is told in surprising and artfully shifting flashbacks between her life then and her life now. Exquisite craft and wry, relatable humor signal the arrival of Emily Wing Smith as a breakout talent. [via GoodReads]

When Zan leaves Joy she is left feeling deserted, abandoned, heartbroken and with one goal... to get Zan back!  Joy's friends all know she is better off without Zan, but obviously this means nothing to her.  Instead she plans a cross-country trip with Zan's ex-BFF, Noah, so she can find Zan and make him hers again.  

At first, I had a hard time getting through the first couple of chapters in this book.  For one thing, I could not relate to Joy.  She was stalkerish, mean-spirited, pathetic and more than once I found her whiny.  But, and thankfully, I persevered and really ended up enjoying Back When You Were Easier to Love.  

Joy is a very multi-layered character - and although she does come off as everything I said above, she's also a girl who lost the boy whom she thought was her soulmate.  She obviously does some growing up throughout the story although sadly not as much as I would have hoped for.  But I will say that that was okay.  It seemed somewhat realistic.  We don't always get what we want no matter how much me whine and pine for it.  

My favorite parts in the story were the road trip.  I liked the friendship that she forms with Noah and how she comes to learn that there may be more to a "Soccer Lovin' Kid".  One other aspect of the novel that I also found interesting - although we only just get glimpses of it - was Joy's Mormon faith. 

Overall, I enjoyed Back When You Were Easier to Love. I liked Ms. Smith's writing style and, as always, love when there are lists and notes scattered throughout the book as there were here. All in all, it was cute and it was fun - although it may not be for everyone.

My Rating: