My Dearest CeCe,
Please never forget that the sun rises and sets with your smile. At least to me it does. You're the only thing on this planet worth worshipping.

This damn book. Holy moly. I stayed up until 5am reading this just so I could do it in one sitting because I simply could not put it down. It's not touted or marketed as either queer fiction or strictly latinx fiction, even though the protagonist is both of these things, so it actually took me a while to find this book. That could have alienated some readers, but I love that this is a women's fiction novel because that's what Evelyn is; a woman. She's not constrained by the fact that she's Cuban-American or that she's bisexual. She's complex and hard to handle at times and not simply reduced to character traits.

Whilst this book definitely explores it's title premise, it's so much more than looking at the husbands of this woman, and the intrigue surrounding her completely drew me in. Every character was unique and interesting, and even though Evelyn had done some horrible things, I was fully invested in her story.

first thoughts:
if evelyn hugo and celia st james were real i’d never shut up about them ever

This was so damn beautiful and I need this from Jace's POV as soon as possible.

Honestly one of the best M/M books I've ever read. I don't have the words to properly articulate just how damn good this book is and how much I love Cooper and how every chapter is named after a rock, or how the angst of this book killed me a little, or how the slow burn of it practically made my heart sing.

Just... this damn book.

Spoiler

Also I kinda think they are actually brothers. Anyone else in that boat?

warnings for: secondary character death, child experimentation mentions

I have followed your antics for far too long to shift my affections from my heroic protagonist to some newcomer. No matter how interesting.

Oh boy, this book.
I think that quote perfectly sums it up. The relationship between Ollie and Moritz is definitely still the focal point of Nowhere Near You, just like it was with Because You'll Never Meet Me, but with new settings and new secondary characters, somehow Leah Thomas has added even more depth to their friendship.

Nowhere Near You is a true sequel; it takes everything about the first book that was great and just adds to it. We get to meet more of the kids from the laboratory, and they're all fleshed out and vastly different. We get to see more correspondence outside of the letters Moritz and Ollie send to each other. Everything is just bigger and better and I had no idea I could fall in love with this series even more.

The stakes are higher this time, and both Ollie and Moritz are seeing more of the world than they ever have before. They're meeting new people and experiencing new things, growing up, and possibly growing apart.
Honestly I was an angsty mess reading this. Because I'm falling in love with these characters more and more with every page I read, I get more excited every time Moritz declares his love for Ollie, I get more frustrated every time one of them says the wrong thing and parts of their friendship fracture. I felt so much during this book that I cried twice whilst reading the last fifty pages. I rarely cry, so that just shows you how GOOD this is.

The ending though. That was the sweetest literary payoff I've read in months.

I know where I want this series to go. Whether it actually does go there is another story, but I know no matter what, if there is another book, it will take me on yet another journey that'll have me turning the pages frantically.

I couldn't put Because You'll Never Meet Me down.
I couldn't put Nowhere Near You down.
Please, Leah Thomas, give us a third book.

Oh good lord the amount of feelings I had when I finished this book.

I love Ollie. I love Moritz. I love love love their relationship.

I've never read a book that is essentially comprised of letters before but it absolutely works for Because You'll Never Meet Me. God, this book was such a refreshing read. It's beautiful and you can completely tell these two boys apart. They have their own voices even on page and I was absolutely riveted.

I love that it's essentially a mashup of genres too. It's contemporary meets fantasy meets sci-fi, but somehow it all seems to work.

This has honestly become one of my favourite books I've ever read. It's absolutely wonderful.