Lucy Green thought she had her senior year in the bag. Cute boyfriend? Check. College plan? Check.
But when her boyfriend dumps her the week before school starts and she literally stumbles into Dov, the new Israeli transfer student, on her first day of school, Lucy’s carefully mapped-out future crumbles.
Determined to have a good senior year, and too busy trying to hold her family together while her mom is across the country working, Lucy ignores the attraction she feels to Dov. But soon, Lucy and Dov’s connection is undeniable. Lucy begins to realize that sometimes, you have to open yourself up to chance. Even if the wrong person at the wrong time is a boy whose bravery you admire and who helps you find your way back to yourself.
*I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for this honest review. This has in no way impacted my review and all opinions are my own. This book meant the world to me, before I jump in I want to say now that this post is NO WAY a political post. Please understand that I know that when it comes to Israel people have VERY different opinions, I am not here to discuss the politics of it, I am here to talk about this book and how much I loved it.*
Lucy’s life is turned on its head when her mom takes a job in California, her boyfriend dumps her and the new transfer student is all she can think about. But when things start to go differently than she planned, Lucy learns what It means to leave in different ways..
Dov is an eighteen year old boy whose family moves to Chicago from Israel, a vastly different culture and experience. The etiquette is different there, I will never forget feeling scared by the culture when I was sixteen (the first time I went to Israel without my parents.) And then when I was eighteen and by three months in, I was used to It and going to the super market down the block was no longer scary.
One of the first scenes when we get to really know Dov is when he is looking for a service to make sure he can say the mourner’s prayer for his brother. This moment was one that hit me hard, both my parents just finished saying the mourner’s prayer for their parents who passed away last year. It brought me back to when I was in Israel for my gap year when my family was mourning the loss of my brothers best friend.
The themes in this novel are intense. And I know not everyone will feel the same intensity that I have felt when I read this novel.
When I was reading  about Dov’s life in Israel, I was brought back to my time living in Israel when I was eighteen. I was the same age as Lucy and Dov, but unlike Lucy I was living a life more similar to Dov’s. I was eighteen living in THE SAME community that Dov is from. (Baka in Jerusalem is one of the most beautiful communities in Israel with some of the yummiest restaurants I have ever eaten at before.) While Dov isn’t orthodox and I am, I was able to connect to him more than I have connected to a character in a long time.
When Dov talked about his trip out to the Far East after he would be finishing his army service, my face broke out into a smile. I was remembering so many of my friends who would tell me stories from their travels and how after those six months, all they wanted to do was travel more and more.
I was brought back to memories of running around a country that had thousands of years of my history and world history in general, singing songs and celebrating holidays in the exact place they happened.
I took a gap year when I graduated high school, so did most of my friends. We went to Israel and learnt in schools where we were learning intensive judaic studies, and learning more independence than I have ever experienced before in my whole life. I strongly encourage gap years, it doesn’t matter where you go or what you do but I strongly believe that Lucy’s guidance counselor captured why going on a gap year is so important.
I loved the use of Hebrew throughout the book, as someone who is fluent in Hebrew being able to read these words and know what every word means, made me feel so seen.
Dov to me was my gap year wrapped into a person and Lucy was me as a person during my gap year. (If that makes any sense.) Dov’s personality, emotions, culture and language is what it felt like when I was in Israel for that year. The teens my age at eighteen  were going into the army, there was a divide between us Americans in the difference between where we were in life. Blitt does an AMAZING job of reminding us that eighteen is still very young, especially for the choices Dov is making. The intensity of everything, the fact that I was living in a community of other Jews who were so similar yet SO diverse from myself and learning how to just love. Lucy is me as a person, the experience and the path I took. The fact that I felt like I was lost for awhile and that I was learning how to be me, the way Lucy was learning how to be who she is.
Dov’s parents. Dov’s parents and their stark contrast to Dov and his personality shows just how extremely messy grieving is. His parents are dealing with grieving in a way that is just so different to Dov’s, shows us that everyone goes through grieving SO differently.
This was a story I loved so much. The characters in this story were pretty great, except for her mom who sucks. Lucy and her dad develop a strong, solid relationship. Her grandmother, Amy, is one of my favorite people ever.
The character growth is amazing, the banter is funny, the emotions are intense and the book is so well written. The culture we are introduced to is great. This book made me feel seen.
I really recommend this to everyone. Its a fun, sweet, heartbreaking, beautiful young adult contemporary novel that everyone needs in their life.