Review: You Are My Only

By: Beth Kephart
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: Oct. 25, 2011
Genre: YA
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Pages: 252
Rating:

Emmy Rane is married at nineteen, a mother by twenty. Trapped in a life with a husband she no longer loves, Baby is her only joy. Then one sunny day in September, Emmy takes a few fateful steps away from her baby and returns to find her missing. All that is left behind is a yellow sock.

Fourteen years later, Sophie, a homeschooled, reclusive teenage girl is forced to move frequently and abruptly from place to place, perpetually running from what her mother calls the "No Good." One afternoon, Sophie breaks the rules, ventures out, and meets Joey and his two aunts. It is this loving family that gives Sophie the courage to look into her past. What she discovers changes her world forever. . . .

My thoughts...
The story follows Emmy and Sophie on their journey after the abduction. Emmy ends up at State medical ward for some strange reason I don't know. All she did was stay out all night looking for her missing Baby. To me that seems like a pretty reasonable response to something so devastating. Half of the story follows her while in State and the other half follows Sophie and her life with her "mother". Sophie of course has no idea that she was abducted by this woman that she calls her mother. Sophie abides by her mothers rules of staying in doors at all times and hiding when people come to the door... until she meets Joey.

The grammar/slang was a bit hard for me to get used to. I found myself rereading parts of the dialogue to figure out what they were saying. It got a little better towards the end when I got used to it but for a while there I thought I was reading it wrong. That sort of took away from the book for me since it kept pulling me out of the story to try to figure out what was going on. However, I understand why the grammar was the way it was and I thought it was brilliant on the authors part.

The story is captivating and I could have read it all in one sitting if I had the time. I really enjoyed reading Sophie's story and how meeting just a few people changed the way she saw things and she started to piece things together. The only thing I didn't care for was the ending. Yes it was predictable but it sort of just leaves you hanging. I got no closure from the ending and if left me wondering, "What happened next?" What happens with Arlen and Joey?

Favorite part...
The first time that Joey climbs up a tree to Sohpie's attic to see her. He brings her chocolate chip cookies that his aunt made. She tells him that he shouldn't be there and he says "I should be, because I like you."