So Much Closer

So Much Closer, by Susane Colasanti.

Here's the thing. I could spend the rest of my life chasing that amazing feeling I had every time I even though about Scott. Physical attraction that strong is addictive. And knowing that kind of magic isn't just a fantasy makes me want to find it again. But what about being with someone who makes me a better person? What about sharing my life with someone who adores me as much as I adore him, whom I can always count on, who helps me find my way when I'm lost?

If I could find both intense physical attraction and strong emotional support with one boy, that would be perfect. But if it has to be one or the other? The choice is clear.

I devoured this book as if it were one of the famous Crumbs cupcakes from New York City with which Colasanti's characters are obsessed. I have read her books before (see my reviews for Take Me There and Something like Fate) and she usually writes about strong female characters; the lead character in this novel, however, Brooke, was even more likable than usual, and I almost wish she was real just so we could be friends.

Brooke lives in New Jersey with her divorced mother, and she has had a crush on Scott for almost the entirety of high school. When she learns that he is moving to New York City after their junior year, however, she is crushed, until inspiration strikes: her father lives in NYC and has a spare bedroom. She could move there for senior year and still be able to see and talk to him every day. She has been wanting to live in the city for a while now anyway, and so she follows her heart and enrolls in a community school there, the same one that Scott attends. She soon realizes, however, that maybe there is more out there for her, and Scott is maybe not the "love of her life" that she thought she was.

I liked the ending of the book a lot, although it's a little predictable, and although Brooke technically moved to NYC for a boy, she was able to find out more about herself and what she wanted to do with her life there than she would have if she had stayed in New Jersey. Colasanti's characters are very "real" in the way she portrays them, and if I lived in New York City, I could see myself being friends with most of the characters in the book.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Disclosure: I was provided an ARC of this novel by the publisher to review. It will be available in stores on May 2, 2011.