*Spoiler free*
Raised by conservative parents, 18-year-old Meg Hennessey just found out her entire childhood was a lie. Instead of taking a gap year before college to find herself, she ends up traveling north to meet what’s left of the family she never knew existed. While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor’s kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship about the church. The clock is ticking on Pastor Allen’s probation hearing and Micah, now 19, feels the pressure to forgive – even when he can’t possibly forget. As Meg and Micah grow closer, they are confronted with the heavy flutterings of first love and all the complications it brings. Together, they must navigate the sometimes-painful process of cutting ties with childhood beliefs as they build toward something truer and straight from the heart.
After reading and loving More Than Maybe, I was so looking forward to this book. And this was before I knew that it was going to feature Meg! I adored the sweet, kind, and fairy winged Meg in More Than Maybe, and I was completely pumped to see her journey with her faith, along with Micah, and Micah’s journey as well. Trigger warnings: mentions of suicide and self-harm
Oh. Oh, oh, oh, this book is so good.
Just, it feels like it is written from a place of pure love, and it shines through in absolutely every aspect of this book.
This book is absolutely wrought with emotion, and the power that comes through those scenes is absolutely breathtaking. Micah on the drums, dang, that scene made me want to sob. Basically the entire back half of this book made me want to sob.
Meg’s growth, how she grew into herself, into the person she wanted to be, into her faith, was such an amazing journey to watch. I know those are just words, but I truly mean them. It’s subtle, but I loved watching her grow into herself, experience the world on her terms. I loved her piercings, her striped hair, her relationship with her faith (throughout road bumps and second guessing and churches ideals that she doesn’t agree with), her sweetness, her baking, and just her overall. She is such a great character.
I guess I’m going by character, so I’m gushing about Micah next. He’s such a solid dude, and he carries his own baggage. But he’s sweet and caring and understanding and he loves the outdoors. He also has a dog, Cash, who is wonderful and I love very much.
And the side characters! I’m starting off by saying I want a Duke book very badly. So yes, I adored Duke. I also loved every aspect of the found family that Meg finds. The family members and the friends and everybody in between. Plus, it was fantastic to see certain relationships blossom, because each side character definitely gets their own story! And Luke and Vada show up in this book too!
Alright, jumping into something completely different now, let’s talk about emotion. Because wow. It’s messy. Fantastically messy. There is no right answer to anything that the characters are going through. Sometimes they have to just be, experience, sometimes they need guidance and conversation, sometimes there is no right answer and all there is do is feel because the world is imperfect. It was just, really great.
Also, this book was wonderfully sex positive! It’s someone’s OWN decision what to do with their body.
There were also many conversations about faith. I know this isn’t surprising since this is literally a book about Meg grappling with her faith haha. My relationship with religion is complicated, but I do just want to say that I did enjoy reading about that aspect.
Just, this book was very, very good. I loved Meg becoming her own person, I loved Micah coming to terms with his own emotions, I loved this book overall so much.
Never Saw You Coming comes out September 7, 2021! You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order a copy in the meantime!
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