BOOK REVIEW: Miss You by Kate Eberlen

'Today is the first day of the rest of your life.'
is the motto on a plate in the kitchen at home, and Tess can't get it out of her head, even though she's in Florence for a final, idyllic holiday before university. Her life is about to change forever- but not in the way she expects.
Gus and his parents are also on holiday in Florence. Their lives have changed suddenly and dramatically. Gus tries to be a dutiful son, but longs to escape and discover what sort of  person he is going to be.
For one day- the paths of these two eighteen-year-olds will criss-cross before they each return to England.
Over the course of the next sixteen years, life and love will offer them very different challenges. Separated by distance and chance, there's no way the two of them are every going to meet each other properly... or is there?

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 457

Miss You by Kate Eberlen is a completely charming read. It is very reminiscent of One Day by David Nicholls but I also loved that book so it was no surprise that I enjoyed this one. Katde Eberlen's book felt a little grittier and more realistic though, both Gus and Tess face some tough challenges along the way.
Gus and Tess first encounter each other in Florence, both eighteen and enjoying their last summer before starting university, Tess to read English Literature and Gus to study Medicine. We then follow their different lives for the next sixteen years, neither has the life they had expected or wished for. Some events are out of their control, they both make bad decisions too and you are willing them both to pull it back together again. I loved the near misses they have with each other, it really made me think about how small the world can be and the different spheres in which we move.
There were times when I wanted to scream at both Gus and Tess but on the whole I thought they were both brilliant characters. The author presents two people who deep down are good, honest and loyal but also human; they do stupid things and are also deeply affected by others around them.
Miss You by Kate Eberlen is romantic and entertaining, I thoroughly enjoyed it.