Book Review: Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

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Places No One Knows

Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: May 17, 2016
Review Source: Delacorte

Waverly Camdenmar spends her nights running until she can’t even think. Then the sun comes up, life goes on, and Waverly goes back to her perfectly hateful best friend, her perfectly dull classes, and the tiny, nagging suspicion that there’s more to life than student council and GPAs.

Marshall Holt is a loser. He drinks on school nights and gets stoned in the park. He is at risk of not graduating, he does not care, he is no one. He is not even close to being in Waverly’s world.

But then one night Waverly falls asleep and dreams herself into Marshall’s bedroom—and when the sun comes up, nothing in her life can ever be the same. In Waverly’s dreams, the rules have changed. But in her days, she’ll have to decide if it’s worth losing everything for a boy who barely exists.

In love. I am in love with this book and these characters and this story. Places No One Knows follows both Waverly, top ranked student and cross country athlete who runs with the popular crown, and Marshall, stoner and drunk. Their paths cross and then everything goes *dreamy.* The real Waverly that no one sees can't sleep, like, at all. One night she lights a candle and chants some numbers then by some force of the universe she ends up where Marshall is. No one can see her but him, so is it real? Is she dreaming?

These characters were everything that drove this story to near perfection. I just wanted to be Waverly because she was with Marshall and I couldn't get enough of him. Places No One Knows shows you a real side of high school, heck it shows you a real side of life! Not everyone is who they seem on the outside. And sometimes you want something that you have to risk losing everything you've built. Waverly wants Marshall but what about the shiny shell she's built around herself? And, Marshall wants more in life but what's the point?

These two balance each other out and bring out each others real selves. You'll fall in love with them and their story and you'll even really like the secondary characters. The real world and the dream world will collide and you'll find yourself blissfully lost in between.

The only thing I will say is this might not be totally contemporary. Waverly slips into sleep and ends up where Marshall is and he can see her, feel her etc. How it's possible is never explained but you won't even care because Brenna Yovanoff makes it about the characters and their truth and you won't bat an eye. Please pick up a copy of Places No One Knows and love it as much as I do!