Laurie S. (LaurieS) reviewed on 7/21/2011 + 504 more book reviews

Told exclusively in notes, instant message, post cards and email this is the story of a life long friendship between Rosie and Alex. They first meet when theyre seated next to each other their first year in school and become inseparable. From the beginning you can see theyre meant to be more than friends but this is chick lit not romance and things dont happen as they should. Life pulls them apart and brings them together, their paths go off in different directions, they make tons of mistakes but they always manage to keep in touch and share witticisms, heartache and frustration.

The early part of the book was honestly my favorite. I loved these two smart-ass young kids and their banter was quite funny.

Heres Alex trying to describe his first sexual experience to Rosie during an IM (instant messaging) session at school:

Rosie, virgin boy is no longer.

Rosie IMs back: Is no longer than a what? Baby sweetcorn?

What happens is next is priceless and the inflection and accent the narrator gives these Irish kids makes it even funnier stuff.

Rosie and Alex have a fun, witty and easy friendship until the summer before senior year. Then things get complicated and continue to stay that way throughout most of the book. Though humor is always the backbone of the story, things get a little darker in tone as Rosies bright future with Alex doesnt materialize and her life takes a very different path than the one she imagined for herself. We see Rosie through a depression and many a setback but Alex is always there in the background as well as her lovely, supportive family and her hilarious girlfriend Ruby. Alex and Rosie obviously should be together but their timing is always way off and both get on with their lives the best way they can. None of these people were overly neurotic and Rosie was an extremely hard worker, good mother/friend/sister/daughter and I really enjoyed reading about her life.

This book was too long for me but it was witty with truly warm and likable characters you can get behind (unlike most chick lit books) who make stupid mistakes like most of us. It was also surprisingly emotional here and there considering the way the story was told with the emails and all. I can easily recommend this to anyone looking for a pick-me-up.

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