Review: The Rules of You and Me by Shana Norris

Title: The Rules of You and Me
Author: Shana Norris
Series: Stand Alone Companion Novel to the Boyfriend Thief
Published: June 24, 2013
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Author (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Contemporary
My Rating: 4 Stars!

Book Description:
Hannah Cohen has always lived her life by a set of carefully constructed rules to maintain the image of perfection. But now, the rules aren’t helping control the chaos that is quickly taking over.

Opting out of spending the summer in Paris with her mom, Hannah instead heads to the mountains of North Carolina to stay with her aunt. The Blue Ridge Mountains provide a barrier between Hannah and the rest of the world, a safe haven where her secrets can be forgotten.

When Hannah crosses paths with Jude Westmore, a guy who hangs a different shirt from the tree in his front yard every day, she finds herself breaking out of the comfort of her rules and doing things she had never dared before. As the summer passes, Hannah and Jude grow closer and make up their own rules for dealing with life.

But when the secret Hannah has tried to forget is finally revealed, even the new rules can’t save her from possibly losing everything–including Jude.

My Thoughts and Review:
I enjoy a good fluff read every now and then, it is one of my many guilty pleasures and even though I knew the main protagonist Hannah was all about the rules, I really was expecting a light, feel good read and yes, parts of that were in here but not all, turns out, I got more than what I was expecting, which is never a bad thing.

There are actually some very deep issues in this one. Addiction, death, running away from your problems, and yes, Hannah's rules of always trying to be perfect. And even though there are some very serious, real issues in this story, there are also some very sweet and tender moments as well.

This really isn't a fluff read and it really isn't all that light, although it isn't dark either, not by a long shot. The characters felt very much alive and real to me. I loved Hannah and how strong she was and how determined she was to figure out who she really wanted to be and to not let the opinion of others, especially her parents,  determine what she does and who she becomes. I loved Jude and his struggles as well. Nothing in this book came easy to the characters. There was no love at first sight, there wasn't even an attraction at first sight and for a change, that was really nice. Nothing was sugar coated or glossed over and I love that the author did that. That she didn't feel she had to make everything hearts and rainbows but at the same time keeping the story from being too heavy or depressing.

I was actually pretty impressed with how much I enjoyed this and how much I look forward to reading other books by this author in the future.

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher, I was in no way compensated for this review*