This was one of my most anticipated contemporary releases of the year, and while it definitely was not without its flaws, I thought it was all in all a tremendously cute, sweet story. I get so accustomed to reading heavy contemporaries—and don’t get me wrong, this one tackles some really rough topics—but Mary managed to write it in a way that, at risk of sounding really odd by saying this, felt like a geeky, goth twist on the stereotypical “fluffy YA contemporary” novel.

Penny thought of this Korean saying for when you really, really liked something. You’d say it “fit your heart exactly.” Sam fit her heart exactly.

→ Penelope Lee ←
The book alternates perspectives, and the first character we meet—the one who feels more like the primary protagonist—is Penelope Lee, or Penny, a Korean-American girl who’s beginning her first year at college. She’s not a particularly likeable character for the first half or so of the book: her anxiety is relatable and I saw a lot of myself in the ways it manifests for her, but she’s also a bit coldhearted and downright mean to the other women in her life. I always struggle with books that feature girl-on-girl hate because it’s hard to predict if it’s a poor trope or the beginning of a great character progression, but thankfully, it’s the latter in this case. Penny is kind of weird and hilarious, and I absolutely would have been best friends with her as a teen (and by that I mean we would’ve just blown each other’s phones up with awkward questions and stupid, geeky jokes).

People were odd. Sam loved and loathed that about them. Fiction was fine, but real life was the true freak show.

→ Sam Becker ←
Sam, our other protagonist, is a 21-year-old who runs the local coffee shop (and lives above it), and he’s kind of the definition of the “starving artist” trope, but in a good way. There’s a lot of validity in his narrative when it comes to his representation of what being poor is like for kids, and that’s not a side of the story that we see often in YA books. That said, he’s a good egg through and through, even if I just spent most of the book feeling sorry for him and simultaneously kind of wanting someone to shake a little bit of sense into him. It’s hard not to root for him, but I do wish that we’d gotten to see a little bit more of his inner monologue regarding his friendship/relationship with Penny, instead of spending so much time focusing on his ex-girlfriend or his past.

“I think I get to miss you. I feel like I’ve earned it.”

That said, watching these two interact with each other is the best part of the book, by far; their text conversations cracked me up, and their flirting is so awkward and nerdy at times that it reminded me WAY too much of myself and my fiancé. They’re also just so candid and open with one another, and it’s absolutely precious to watch how instantly they trust one another. It doesn’t feel like insta-love by any stretch, but it does portray how blissfully disarming it can feel to meet someone you immediately feel like you can be yourself around.

He wanted to hug her. In fact, he wanted to hug her and then build an electrified fence around her. A fence that was encircled by a moat filled with rabid, starving alligators.

Don’t get me wrong, though, there are some very heavy topics in this book, and between that and the characters’ ages, I actually hesitate to call this YA, as it felt more like a “mild” NA read to me. We see multiple instances of abusive and/or neglectful parenting, plus we watch Sam deal with life as a recovering alcoholic (and he does relapse at one point, so if that’s a trigger for you, beware). We also watch Sam deal with his ex-girlfriend’s pregnancy and there’s a lot of chatter about becoming a parent and what that entails. At one point, a character accidentally overdoes it with drugs and ends up hospitalized. A character explains a rape from her past in fairly heavy details, and there are a handful of racist comments thrown at Penny throughout the story. As far as the dialogue itself goes, there are some unchallenged remarks that I could’ve done without, such as one slightly acephobic comment, and several uses of the word “slut”.

“Don’t drag the entire me folder into the desktop trash can so you hear the paper-rustling sound.”
“You can’t ask me that. The paper-rustling sound is too satisfying.”

Altogether, Emergency Contact isn’t a perfect read; it’s got some awkward comments and uncomfortable moments, and to be frank, the first quarter or so of the book is slow and a little bit boring. That said, it really picked up for me and I absolutely loved the second half. By the end of the story, I was rooting so hard for Penny and Sam to just be happy and healthy and have a beautiful little life together. ♥ If you enjoy YA/NA contemporaries, especially ones with a bit of geek humor and cute boys with lots of tattoos, definitely pick this one up and give it a try.

Buddy read with Reg!

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