Rowena’s review of The Rules of You and Me by Shana Norris.
Hannah Cohen has always lived her life by a set of carefully constructed rules to maintain the image of perfection. But now, the rules aren’t helping control the chaos that is quickly taking over.
Opting out of spending the summer in Paris with her mom, Hannah instead heads to the mountains of North Carolina to stay with her aunt. The Blue Ridge Mountains provide a barrier between Hannah and the rest of the world, a safe haven where her secrets can be forgotten.
When Hannah crosses paths with Jude Westmore, a guy who hangs a different shirt from the tree in his front yard every day, she finds herself breaking out of the comfort of her rules and doing things she had never dared before. As the summer passes, Hannah and Jude grow closer and make up their own rules for dealing with life.
But when the secret Hannah has tried to forget is finally revealed, even the new rules can’t save her from possibly losing everything–including Jude.
This young adult romance is a standalone companion novel to The Boyfriend Thief.
When I opened up this book, I didn’t realize that this was a companion novel to The Boyfriend Thief. I remember wanting to read The Boyfriend Thief last year but it slipped off my radar and I never got around to it. Oh, well. That didn’t stop me from reading this book and I’m glad that it didn’t because I enjoyed this read.
This book follows Hannah as she travels to North Carolina to stay with her Aunt for the summer, instead of joining her mother in Paris like she planned. It follows Hannah as she learns about the person she is and the person she wants to be. Hannah’s journey wasn’t an easy one but it sure was a worthwhile one.
When we first met Hannah in this book, she’s talking to her mother on the phone and you just know that she dodged a bullet in going to Paris with her mother. Her mother is acting like a spoiled rich girl who’s only plan is to get wasted and spend her father’s money (or in her case, her husband’s money) to forget about the problems that are waiting for her at home. Hannah wants nothing to do with that but Hannah is also running away from her family problems as well. The only difference as far as I can tell is that Hannah knew she was running.
You see, Hannah’s father is in rehab and Hannah was brought up, thinking that she had to be perfect at all times and having a family member in rehab does not make a perfect family.
On her drive to her Aunt’s house, she gets a flat and some guy stops and changes her flat tire for her and because Hannah isn’t perfect anymore, she insults him and he storms off and Hannah is left behind feeling out of sorts.
Watching Hannah come into her own was great fun. At the end of the book, I could really see the progress that Hannah made in being okay with her imperfections and with her feelings with her father and standing up to her Mom. I also liked the resolution with Jude that came about. That ending scene with her family and him? Swoon. I loved it. I loved seeing Hannah grow and I loved seeing Jude come into his own as well. I really liked both of their characters and want to read The Boyfriend Thief to find out what happened with Avery. And Elliott.
This was a really cute book, one that is perfect for summer reading. I thought Norris shined in this one and I will definitely be recommending this book to my daughter as well as my nieces because I think this is something they’d enjoy.
Grade: 4 out of 5
This book is available from Shana Norris. You can purchase it here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.