Sometimes, you’re just in the mood for a fun story about a couple of teenagers adventuring around the city. Or I often am, at least. I can’t even count the number of times I have watched Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist as a teenager, the number would be huge (I read the book much later but loved it so much). This book has a very very similar feeling, but is unique in it’s own ways.

I really enjoyed the story and the characters in this one. The focal point of the story was the friendship between Mark and Kate, two queer teenagers navigating life in the bay area. They meet at the start of pride at Happy Happy, a gay bar in the City. Having never talked despite sitting next to one another in math class all year, they begin a fast friendship that escalates to a intimate level almost immediately. The story is told in their dual perspectives, and I just adored that it was their friendship that was in the spot light.

The individual characters are wonderful. Mark is outwardly your all-american classic teenage boy, on the baseball team, you know the drill. He also happens to be in love with his best friend, who isn’t quite ready to come out just yet. Mark is stuck in this confusing situation, which is at an all time high for confusion the night he meets Kate. Kate is an artist whose fallen for a girl she’s never met and in the face of opportunities for happiness she can’t help but run away. She is full of doubts and dreams and I love her for all of it.

This story is an important one, I think. The characters experience heart ache and self-doubt, question their futures and their choices, and really have to figure out how to be who they are, despite the things that scare them. There is great character growth going on here, even with the minor characters. Mark’s best friend Ryan is an excellent example of this, he learns how to be true to himself publicly, which is so important. Things don’t just magically work out for everyone, the relationships felt realistic for the most part- they all had ups and downs and tough moments. While the setting of San Francisco during Pride might add a level of excitement and fun and adventure, the characters and their relationships still felt like something a lot of people could connect to.

I also loved the LGTBQ aspect of the characters and the story. It was refreshing to have a story about queer kids in love that didn’t completely revolve around coming out (though those are very important stories to have, too). The characters’ identities didn’t just focus on their sexual preferences; these characters were dynamic and interesting and fully developed, which was great.

In the spirit of Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, You Know Me Well is a fast-paced, whirlwind of a story about two teenagers figuring out love and friendship in San Francisco. Did the story blow me away or sweep me off my feet? no. BUT it was still a really fun and enjoyable story, set against a backdrop of Pride in the City. The setting of SF caught my eye, and the dynamic characters captured my heart. I would absolutely recommend this book to folks looking for a fun but meaningful contemporary read this summer (or anytime, really).

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

Have you read a fun contemporary lately? I’d love your recommendations, i’m ready for some summer reads!

♥, Gabi