Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry Review

Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry

“But maybe the world isn’t so black and white. Maybe there’s room for shades of gray.”  

Nowhere But Here is the story of how one girl’s life is shaken when a trip to her grandmother’s funeral goes wrong and she winds up staying longer than she wanted with the guy who wanted only one thing in life which she hinders. This is their love story.

There are two main characters in the story, Emily and Oz and the story is from both of their perspectives. I really liked Emily and Oz because they both went through a lot of things in their lives and yet they weren’t irritating or whiny about their circumstances. Emily was the right amount of curiosity/stubborn and patience whilst Oz was both honest and protective. Their relationship was built slowly and filled with smart and snarky moments and the best thing was that they weren’t afraid to say harsh but honest things to each other. However one thing that really annoyed me was how Oz’s chapters from the moment they met till they confessed their feelings were of him talking about how beautiful Emily was – literally every chapter – as if we didn’t already get the memo. Emily also did it but she did it less and unlike Oz she didn’t compare other boys to him. He kept comparing Emily to other girls and how she was better than them which was really annoying/horrible.  

Reading the synopsis I’d guessed how the book would go but it surprisingly took a different route which sets it apart from other books about MC, mainly due to the fact MC books are normally New Adult books not Young Adult. The story focuses mainly on two things; romance between the two main characters and the truth between Emily’s biological parents – the mystery was built up well and the reveal didn’t disappoint.

There were a lot of characters introduced in the book but surprisingly it wasn’t confusing because for each character there was a certain amount of information given out to let the reader gain an insight on them. I especially liked Olivia because she was sassy as hell.  Plus I can’t wait for Razor’s book because he seemed really interesting.

Other things I liked included the elements of love throughout the book and its importance to different people. I also liked how both Oz and Olivia defined the club and its importance on family, belonging and search for freedom/yourself.

The ending was bittersweet but I gathered it would be and I really loved what Olivia said about love and the past. Plus the playlist at the end is amazing!

★★★★☆