Where have you been? Oh, you're Right Where I Left You!

Hello, and welcome to the final book of my era that was essentially a landslide of books that were released in March and April. And I remember this happening either last year or the year before at this exact time. Still, I’m talking about Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters.

So, this Blurbie Dreamhouse Adventures is actually a bit long, but, newly graduated, comic book-obsessed Isaac Martin is gearing up for an epic summer. Teen Pride is coming, and if all goes to plan, he’ll get to meet his comic-writing heroes at Legends Con. And the next few months are also about spending every waking moment with his best friend, Diego, before heading to college without him in the fall. Should he find his storybook love, that’s a bonus. Then a meet-cute with old high school crush, Davi, leaves Isaac starry-eyed (Ellie Goulding tease) and without the convention badges. Then Isaac has to break the news to Diego, and Isaac can’t figure out why Diego seems more annoyed about Davi being around than missing the convention.

I will say, even though that’s a whole paragraph, I did cut some stuff out. There were bits in between what I wrote, but they just hit what I’ve written home harder. So, immediately, with the Isaac not understanding why Diego is more annoyed about Davi than missing the convention, that told me that to Diego, the issue was more about the spending time together than actually going to the convention. And that perhaps it was a best friends to lovers kind of book. That was the vibe I immediately got from the blurb, without reading a page.

Chapter one has us open in Diego’s room, homeboy Diego is playing this game, Beyond the Valley of Stars, that Isaac tells us he’s obsessed with. And then Isaac says that he’s obsessed with this comic book series, Disaster Academy, where he’s hoping these two characters profess their love for each other. The gig is that the two of them want to go to Legend Con so Isaac can meet the writer and artist duo who created the comics and Isaac can meet the creator of the game. Chapter two tells us about how Isaac is planning on buying the passes for the convention and about how they’re really difficult to get, and we also learn about Isaac’s family life in this chapter. There’s a lot packed into chapter two, despite the fact it’s only a conversation in his kitchen one morning. And then Miss Chapter Three has Isaac kill time until he can use his password that he’s got to get the passes at a comic book shop that he loves. Then, like the blurb says, his old high school crush, Davi, turns up in the comic book shop, and in their conversation, Isaac finds out that Davi is bi and going to the same pride event as Isaac. This is what leaves Isaac starry-eyed, and then he has a little panic since he’s a few minutes late to getting the passes, and they’re sold out by the time he uses his password.

Immediately, there’s a lot in the first three chapters. You know how you’re meant to use the first three chapters of a book to essentially sell the book? I think this book did a really good job of that. It follows the formula really simply. The main character of Isaac is set up well of what his family is like and how socially anxious he is, his goals of what he wants are outlined and then, I guess, the inciting event happens right at the end of the third chapter, making you think, “Hmm, well what the hell we gon’ do now?”

I will say, when it came to after, I was half expecting an argument or something, maybe a little tension, but it didn’t come. And because of that I was left wondering what was going to end up happening, because things seemed to just go on as normal, and there were a couple of chapters where it felt like things were settling before Davi turned up again. And it was when Davi turns up again that we go the first suggestion of the best friends to lovers I was expecting, or that perhaps Diego might not be so happy with Davi turning up for the summer. I’m not going to spoil this book, by the way, despite how I’ve been going on.

I think since this book was solely Isaac’s POV, we ended up seeing more of his personality than we did Diego’s. That’s not a criticism or anything, it’s literally the case of we’re following one character, and with them the whole time, so obviously we’re going to see more of them. Now, I’ve mentioned that Isaac is awkward, but oh my lort is he awkward. And now that I’m thinking about it, the fact that you don’t see as much of Diego’s personality as you do Isaac’s, I have just realised that it was probably an intentional choice on the author’s part since Davi turns up and starts taking Isaac's time. It’s one of those things that I’ve only realised when writing this post book-read.

This is definitely one of those “things just happen” books, and within that statement that therefore means that things have to happen. Like, I don’t think there was a major, overarching plot, it was more so just Isaac living his live, with things happening, dealing with whatever comes his way, whether it was good or bad over the summer. One thing that gets mentioned pretty early on is how Isaac is heading to college in the fall whereas Diego isn’t planning on it, despite the fact his parents want him to go. There’s also the whole thing of how Isaac and Diego were meant to spend the summer together, but (to avoid spoilers) things pop up throughout the book that prevent them from doing that, and even though this isn’t spoilers, Davi is obviously included in that.

This was also one of those books where, like Kiss & Tell that I just read, the characters suffered (as people, not characters) from being young. I know that sounds like a negative, but it’s not. It’s the tension that, because I read a lot of books in a similar genre, I’ve learned to recognise, since I know the tropes. And because I know the tropes, I can see what the issue is when the characters can’t, so I want to scream at them, despite the fact that they’re not real and can’t hear me.

I’m not going to talk about the ending, because I feel like if I did, then I’d have no choice than to spoil it due to what I’ve already said in this post.

Now, this point is literally just a personal thing for how my brain works, but I feel like it’s very hard for one of these “things just happen” books to fully drag me across the floor by my wig. And even if it’s hard for them to do that, if the “things just happen” is done well, like it is in this book, it’ll always leave me with that feeling where I’m sat there once I’ve finished reading the book where I’m like, “Yes, that was correct.”

And because I can’t think of anywhere else to put this minor point, I’m dumping it here. There were definitely a couple of moments, but literally only a couple, throughout the book where I was left thinking, “Is that something an 18-year-old would say? No.”

This final point is something that no one needs to know, and it’s just about my physical version of the book. So, if you’ve ever been to somewhere like an aquarium that has open top tanks, and because of the open top tanks, there’s that distinct watery-fish smell… Now this is going to sound so weird, but the spine of my copy smells like that, and I don’t know why.

Okay, bye!