Name: You Know Me Well
ISBN: 9781250098658

Nina LaCour

David Levithan

A Novel

You Know Me Well

jenn

Mark and Kate sit next to each other in school but are barely acquainted until they meet at a San Francisco club during Pride Week and connect over each one's forbidden love.

a novel

You know me well

Annika Arguemore

Poetically written.

I say that because of Violet's story of Lars and how she compared it to Kate's paintings. That shit just got me. And that part about Mark being his BFF's calendar, and his BFF's almost-boyfriend being his BFF's date. I mean, seriously.

And I also loved the fact that it was about their budding friendship more than it was about their relationships. I mean, it was also about their relationships, but there was more of an emphasis, a spotlight, on the friendship between Mark and Kate.

I also loved that, more than anything, this was a celebration of the LGBT community.

Lindsey B

This book reminded me of all those feelings of growing up and wanting something so badly that it blinded you. 4 stars for all nostalgia and feels.

A special edition of the critically acclaimed LGBTQ+ romance, now with bonus material from bestselling authors Nina LaCour and David Levithan. You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time. Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really? Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed. That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way. When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more. Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour, author of Watch Over Me, We Are Okay, Hold Still, and The Disenchantments, and David Levithan, author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green).

Nina

sweet and beautiful book! very nice to read during pride month🏳️‍🌈💘

2.5 stars. 

The book was like - okay, I guess. I didn't hate it nor did I get bored, it was actually a pretty charming, quick read. But I wasn't impressed nor did I especially like it. The plot was distinct enough for me to not completely forget the book, and to be honest the plot was what drew me in the book. Followed by the authors, both of whom have impressive resumes. 

What fell short for me was really due to the fact that I didn't think the book was going to go in the direction that it went. It felt just so 'Pride! LGBT! Acceptance! Gay!' and what I wanted was just two storylines that just happen to be gay. Like I didn't want it to emphasize on the whole concept of being gay, it's just personally not for me. This sounds really bad but I'm bi so uh, I'm really just so over it. 

I liked the two POV characters. At least, enough for me to not get annoyed with them. They're... okay. However, they weren't relatable to me. But then again, that's just me. I also liked how simple the way it was written was, like it didn't have the most intricate descriptions of things so it was really easy to follow and y'know, that's nice. I like when books are like that. Especially when I read this at like 2AM because I drank an energy drink a few hours beforehand - bad idea, by the way. 

I don't know, I would say much more but I'm really just over it. Like, I was definitely expecting more and I was slightly disappointed but I didn't regret reading it and I enjoyed it so I'm just like. Yeah, okay.

Jamieson

“I'm ready to love myself, but I'm not ready to lose you. 
I'm ready to find myself, but I'm not ready for you to know what I find” 


This book had the most iconic mlm/wlw solidarity and I am HERE FOR IT. To be honest, this was the exact kind of queer book I needed and I didn't even realise that until I read it. I loved the friendship between Mark and Kate, a lesbian and gay character and just how this whole book played out. I read it pretty much in one sitting and enjoyed all of it so much. 

You Know Me Well follows Kate and Mark, who sit next to eachother in class and never talk. They run into eachother in the city one night and realise, over one wild night, that they do have some things on common. Kate is in love with a girl she barely knows, and Mark is in love wish his best best friend Ryan who may or may not know. 




The friendship between Mark and Kate was my favourite thing about this. I always say queer people travel in packs and the friendship between the two really resonated with me. I related to them both a lot, but also felt quite Seen because it's really rare to have queer friends in books. I really liked the focus on the formative years of identity, and how being in that stage of your life where you're trying to find yourself is complicated so much by also trying to understand your queer identity. 

This is an ownvoices book and you can tell. Nina LaCour and David Levithan perfectly capture what their characters and the idea of Pride. This book is set over the week of Pride in San Francisco and I love how they explored the entire queer community and the idea of spaces being welcoming and safe the first time you enter them. I also really related to Mark and his struggle with having a crush on your friend and not knowing what to do about it. This book was extremely powerful and relatable and I really loved that about it. 

Pacing wise, this is also perfect. Its easy to read in one sitting because something is always happening. The authors used the dual perspective so effectively, always leaving each chapter hanging so you were excited to read both narrations. I can easily say I was equally interested in both Kate and Mark's story. 

My one criticism is that Kate's love interest was a little panic pixie dream girl. I think it was kind of addressed a bit so it wasn't too bad but I think adding more depth and complexity to her character would have been really beneficial to her character. 


  “You're becoming. You're in the process of becoming. You just don't know what yet.
That felt right. It felt okay to stop there, for now, as we walked through the future.” 


I really liked this book. It's unlike so many other contemporary books on the market right now. This book perfectly encapsulates why ownvoices books are so good. I loved the friendships in this so much and the romances were pretty perfect too. Nina LaCour and David Levithan captured so many of my emotions in this and the events resonated with me so much. I really recommend this if you're looking for a quick read with a gay/lesbian character

Jeannette Ordas

A quick read where everyone is good looking, from great families, are well adjusted and have supportive communities. It’s like a sweet little fairy tale and sometimes it’s just what you need.

Nina Lacour

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, the best-selling author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

Beatriz Pereira

This was truly beautiful. Just a simple story about growing up in a week. Inclusivity done right. The way the author's treated it like no big deal is what we want from books. Not everything is around coming out of the closet. Just normal teenagers with normal romances. Really good book.

Julia Lotz

Meine Meinung: Ich habe mich sehr auf das neue Buch von Nina LaCour gefreut, das in Zusammenarbeit mit David Levithan entstanden ist. Ich bewundere sie sehr und eine Kombi der beiden Autoren verspricht definitiv einen LGBT-Roman. Dieser Verdacht bestätigte sich genau dann, als ich das erste Mal das Wort Pride Week im Klappentext lag und mit dieser Bestätigung kamen leise Zweifel. Ich liebe Bücher, die Diversity thematisieren und dennoch wurde ich von LGBT-Themen in letzter Zeit enttäuscht. Die Bücher beschäftigten sich auf nervige Art immer nur mit dem Thema Coming Out und das war aus meiner Sicht nach spätestens dem dritten Buch uninteressant.
In Eine Woche für die Ewigkeit treffen Mark und Kate während der Pride Week aufeinander. Beide haben aktuell ein mehr oder weniger unglückliches Liebesleben und an diesem Abend in San Francisco beschließen die beiden, Freunde zu sein. Das lustige dabei ist, dass sie schon sehr lange in Mathe nebeneinander sitzen und sich seither nie unterhalten haben. Schnell merken die beiden, dass sie sich vertrauen und gegenseitig helfen können und so entwickelt sich in der kurzen Woche der Pride Week eine tiefe und bedingungslose Freundschaft. Sie ist das, was im Buch dominiert und obwohl sich die beiden helfen, ihr Liebesleben und die anderen Probleme in ihrem Leben wieder auf die Reihe zu bekommen, bleibt das Thema der Freundschaft wichtig und zentral, was mir aufgrund von dessen Bedeutung sehr gut gefallen hat und die Geschichte in meinen Augen besonders macht. 
Aber auch die LGBT-Szene ist im Buch zentral. Es ist Pride Week in San Francisco und dennoch haben unsere Protagonisten mit ihren ganz eigenen Problemem zu kämpfen. Mark ist verliebt in seinen besten Freund und Kate hat endlich ihre große Liebe Violet kennengelernt aber sie steht ihrem Glück immer wieder selbst im Weg. Sehr schön finde ich, dass das Buch vor LGBT fast überläuft aber die Probleme der Protagonisten in sämtlichen Lebenslagen nichts sind, was der LGBT-Szene vorbehalten ist (wie zum Beispiel das Coming Out). Das war so herrlich erfrischend genauso wie der Schreibstil von David Levithan und Nina LaCour ist. 
Fazit: Wenn ihr Bücher liebt, die open minded sind, dann ist Eine Woche für die Ewigkeit das perfekte Buch für euch und sollte nicht im Bücherregal fehlen. Unvergleichlich schön und berührend erzählen die beiden Autoren von Kate und Mark, die eine Freundschaft entwickeln, die stärker nicht sein kann und sich als wichtigstes Thema durch das Buch zieht. Einfühlsam erzählen die beiden von der LGBT-Szene und thematisieren dabei nicht die üblichen Themen.
Vielen lieben Dank an den Carlsen Verlag für die Bereitstellung des Exemplars zur *Blogtour.

Fátima

Me gustó, pero no me mató. La amistad que se forma entre ambos personajes, a pesar de ser sumamente precipitada me gustó mucho también. Y logré creérmela, pero todo lo que pasa alrededor de la historia es muy poco realista :/ Pasan muchas cosas que en la vida real no pasarían.

Sin embargo, me gustó el hecho de que fuesen adolescentes con miedos e inseguridades con las que fácilmente podrías identificarte. Y también me gustó la lección de que siempre puedes conseguir mejores amigos, que te apoyen, que tengan más cosas en común contigo y con los que siempre podrás contar, en lugar de quedarte con amistades que están contigo por costumbre y no por afinidad.

You Know Me Well is a tender and joyful young-adult novel tracing the powerful friendship of two lovesick teenagers—a gay boy, Mark, and a lesbian girl, Katie—over the course of Pride Week in San Francisco. Told in alternating chapters, You Know Me Well explores how Mark and Katie help one another overcome heartbreak, fractured friendships and the dizzying speeds of change. David Levithan is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of young-adult books, including Every Day, Two Boys Kissing, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green). He lives in New Jersey and spends his days in New York, editing and publishing other people’s books. Nina LaCour is the author of three critically acclaimed young-adult novels: Hold Still, The Disenchantments and Everything Leads to You. Nina lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wife and their daughter. ‘A heartfelt story of two teens coming to terms with who they are and what they want their futures to hold. It’s an honest, emotional ode to love and friendship.’ Bookish Manicurist ‘So perfectly written by both authors!’ Dolly ‘The relationships are complex, messy and heartfelt and there is an overriding theme of self-acceptance right through the novel...It’s the kind of novel young adults (and many older ones) need to read, to understand that love is love–no matter what.’ Magpies

Tate

I rated this book low because I found it to be way to fast paced. There was not proper development for the characters and the friendship between the main two characters had no development.

jess

EXCELLENT QUEER FICTION. I know and trust both David Levithan and Nina LaCour for their portrayals of queer teenagers, but reading this passed my expectations. It's a story, which is very poetic, and very relatable, and it is beautiful. It really does celebrate LGBTQ+ people - like, this feels very By And For the queer community. 

Some scenes (view spoiler)[(the Queer Poetry Night and the pride parade) (hide spoiler)] gave me literal chills. I can't really explain why because I don't have the words, but gosh, I loved them. Minor thing that made me really happy: (view spoiler)[ a (minor) genderqueer character who uses "they/them" pronouns. I think this is the first time I've seen this in a book! (hide spoiler)]

Mark and Kate were both very good characters. I loved them both, and they were very easy to relate to, both of them. Kate especially, with Running Away From Everything and also loving the idea of a girl who will save her. Mark was cute too and a great character to read about, but since his story mostly revolved around Ryan, I didn't relate to as much. (view spoiler)[Mark talked about dragging Katie into his life but I felt like Mark didn't have much in his life (other than Ryan) as a standalone character while Katie probably could have carried most of the book alone. I really would have liked more of Mark. (hide spoiler)]

The one issue I have is that the characters didn't talk like teenagers, which pulled me out of immersion a little bit. Sometimes, they didn't talk like people. Which is fine. I can suspend disbelief for good quotable dialogue.

Inez

crying-o-meter: 97/100.

i cried way too much that i feel like i have no more energy to talk to an actual person so i am gonna slide back to my chamber

This book had some of the best platonic relationships I've ever seen. On the surface this is a book about two people trying to sort out romantic relationship woes. But the core of the book is the platonic relationships and I love it so damn much.

The main platonic relationship is between Kate and Mark, our alternating narrators. On the first night of Pride, they both end up in the same San Francisco bar, disappointed by their love lives. They use each other as excuses to get away from their disappointing situations and then decide they're going to come up with a great story of what they did that night to make their friends jealous. And then manage to actually make that night happen rather than just a shared fantasy (because fiction makes anything possible). I love their dynamic. I love that they have this instant connection. I love how both of them are so ready to be a cheerleader and shoulder to cry on for the other. Their strong platonic connection is absolutely essential for making this book work. Because without Kate, Mark might still be pining silently and not dealing with how much he loves Ryan. Without Mark, Kate might not have gotten that gallery opening or the courage to confront her fears regarding Violet and college. These two needed the mutual appreciation society that they built during this Pride week. 

Awesome platonic relationship number 2 is Kate and Lehna. It doesn't look so awesome for a lot of the book because Kate's dealing with shit that has her feeling weird about her realtionship with Lehna, but I love them anyways. Friends since they started school, they've done so much together, from painting a huge mural in Kate's garage to attending a revelatory Tegan & Sara concert in 8th grade, to coming out to their parents as lesbians. But as high school is winding down and college is looming on the horizon, Kate finds herself wondering whether they're best friends because they've always been friends or because they would be friends no matter when they met. They're facing a big transition so it makes sense that both of them are wondering what their friendship is going to look like in the future, and how they're going to change, and whether their friendship can survive when they're no longer in constant proximity. I love that they are 100% platonic. Despite the fact that they figured out their sexualities and came out at the same time, neither or them ever considered a romantic/sexual relationship with the other. Because platonic relationships are just as important and life-changing and heartbreaking to potentially lose as any other. Seeing the two of them start to work things out and talk about what they're feeling about the future was awesome and I loved it.

Platonic relationship number 3 was hella fraught, because it's Mark and Ryan. Mark would really like for their relationship to not be platonic. He wants the sexual part of their relationship to also become romantic. And Ryan doesn't really want that. It's not just that he's in the closet and is afraid to come out, he also doesn't want to add a romantic component to their relationship; he wants it to stay platonic. And Mark is breaking up inside dealing with this and not talking about it until Ryan hooks up with someone else at that bar and something's gotta give. Mark desperately needed to finally tell Ryan his feelings and put it all out in the open and he had every right to be hurt and angry when Ryan turned him down in favor of their platonic relationship. Like rejection hurts. But I am so so so glad that Mark was willing and able to step back and say, "yes, this platonic relationship IS really important to me, I am going to make sure that we continue to be friends because Ryan is still one of the most important people in my life even if my feelings aren't returned." It's so common to see people whose feelings aren't returned completely break off friendships and I was so happy to see Mark not do that. To see Mark actually be happy about Ryan's romantic relationship with Taylor because Ryan was happy about it. Seriously, this was an A++++ friendship. 

Despite the nominal focus on romantic relationships, this book did my aromantic heart good.

Flavia Louise

4.75 stars

This made me laugh, this made me cry (and I don't cry in books). I adored it with all of my little queer heart.

allie

4 stars.

this book is so beautifully written and honestly it just made my heart ache

Georgia Carr

I mean, this was not what I wanted or what I expected at all. I adore David Levithan's books, and what I've read of Nina LaCour is great too, but this just ... wasn't. 

It felt rushed, and forced, and my goodness was there too much insta-love in this novel. I love the premise but the execution was not on the standard that I know Levithan and LaCour could write. 

Sure, it's cute and it's fluffy and it's an LGBT novel which is always great, but I kept waiting and waiting for my mind to change, I WANTED to be blown away, but it never happened. ):

hope

OKAY SO summary about my feelings for this book:
lehna and kate broke my heart because it felt too real but im so glad they sorted things out in the end 
it was amazing and magical to read about pride week at san francisco i cried a lot
kate and mark have the best gay/lesbian alliance!!! i love them so much
ALSO violet was my favorite and the mark/kate/violet tricycle is my favorite thing ever
i felt so much reading this ugh i have just 1 single problem with this book which is how some part of the whole mark/ryan situation was handle but it was resolved exactly right SO idc about that right now and im giving it 5 stars because it has all my love <3333

I loved it I dont understand the hate! Its wholesome

Andrea M

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

I loved this book. (Mostly the Kate chapters, but Mark was great and I love everyone in this bar.)

Geneviève Rouleau

Perfectly binge worthy and so soooo QUEER 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | 
  As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via Net Galley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.


Broadening the genre (if only for a small fraction of what is desired) beloved LGBTQ friendly writers Nina LaCour (Everything Leads to You", "Hold Still") and David Levithan ("Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist", "Boy Meets Boy") have teamed up with each other for what's surely the most dynamic writing duo this year and lead us into a breezy young adult contemporary that is fast on track to becoming a new favorite for fans.

Seriously, guys. Their writing together? It's heavenly. Can you guys, like, I don't know, team up again about thirty-five more times? No?

Okay. Back on track!

If you've ever loved either author's work (solo or otherwise) You Know Me Well should be at the top of your list to purchase this summer. I don't even have to tell you this. Perhaps the best young adult book of 2016, You Know Me Well is the perfect novel to lay in the sun with and remains impossible to put down. New fans will be made with this gem of a novel and I'm confident in saying so.

Continued: BOOKEDJ

Kate

This was such a fantastic read and utterly adorable! 
I think what I loved most was the fact that we were almost dropped into the middle of a story already in the process of unfolding. The majority of the characters, having already come out, were happy and secure in their sexualities and relationships were already established, all of which were different but with an equally honest, real feel to them. I loved that although this had a focus around romance, as a reader we got to watch a strong friendship grow as well, which I've not come across a lot in YA. The pride elements were so much fun to read, I especially loved the description of the parades and San Fransisco. I loved that both Kate and Mark were going through different things but were exactly what each other needed to help them get through. They had their separate lives and drama going on but they where always there for each other quietly yet unwaveringly.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. It was incredibly comfortable to read and flowed between the different perspectives brilliantly. I found myself happily flying through it! 
With friendships, romance, big life decision and a diverse cast of characters, including multiple f/f and m/m romances, gay and lesbian pov's and a genderqueer minor character, this was a refreshing and lovely read.

Erifili G

4 stars! 
 You Know Me Well  was a very fast paced & light read, and I really enjoyed it for that reason. I picked it up because of all the representation, of course, but if it weren't for that it would just be a quite boring and common YA-john-green-romance story.
In less than 250 pages, the main characters managed to have character development, which is always good because at first I have to say Kate kind of annoyed me. The notions of insta-love and insta-friendship are heavily used in this book, and I don't believe in either of them so I just had to take deep breaths and ignore it. Kate and Violet were in love without ever having spoken to each other?  Please.  Mark and Kate literally decided to become best friends on the spot without ever having spoken to each other?  Please. Again. If you ignore all that, and Kate's tendency to run away every time the story was about to get good, it's an interesting book. 
I am realizing now that this review sounds  somewhat negative . Then why did you give it 4/5, Eri!, you might be wondering. Well it's probably because:

1. Every single character in this book is lgbt+ and representation is Very Needed,
2. The couples were cute,
3. Violet & Kate are very shippable if you ignore the unrealistic Im-in-love-with-someone-I've-never-spoken-to concept,
4. Mark & Kate's character development,
5. The lightness and fast pace of the story.

 That's it, pals. I don't really have much to say because this isn't exactly unique and I doubt it's anyone's favorite, but it's still worth reading if you wanna get out of a reading slump, or if you just want a really light and easy read.

You Know Me Well A Novel