Review: Our Way Back to Always by Nina Moreno

Our Way Back to Always

by Nina Moreno 

October 19, 2021

Goodreads Summary:

Luisa (Lou) Patterson grew up across the street from Sam Alvarez in the small, quirky town of Port Coral. They used to be inseparable--spending every holiday together, shooting silly YouTube videos, and rescuing stray cats. But then middle school happened, including the most disastrous (and embarrassing) serenade ever, and Lou and Sam haven't talked in the four years since. Sam is now the golden boy with plenty of friends, while Lou is an introverted romantic who's happy playing video games and writing fan fiction. But it's also the summer before their senior year, and life is knocking on Lou's door.

With her older sister having given up a scholarship to Princeton to have a baby and work at the local botanica, all of their mother's expectations are now riding on Lou's shoulders. She's retaking her SAT's, signed up for way too many AP classes, and her sights set on colleges with fancy names like Duke and Vanderbilt. But when she finds the bucket list she and Sam wrote together as kids, before Sam's father was diagnosed with cancer, she's shocked to see that she hasn't accomplished any of the goals she'd set for herself. Go to a party? Nope. Pull the greatest prank of all time? Still no. Learn how to be a really good kisser? Definitely not.

Torn between the future that her mother, sister, and younger self planned for her, Lou sets out to finish the list, and in a stroke of destiny or fate, Sam decides to tag along. Still trying to stay afloat amid the grief of losing his father, Sam himself is staring down a future that feels all too close, and is coming far too fast. But with the bucket list to guide them, Sam and Lou might just be able to find a way through the future, and also a way back to each other.

Review

A quick read with some serious moments, Our Way Back to Always was all about the life lessons. I didn't expect the heaviness that came with this story but it was welcome.

Our main characters are both dealing with personal struggles while having to make life-changing decisions. Nina Moreno does an excellent job portraying their worries and fears. So very realistic. I felt all their emotions.

Lou and Sam's awkwardness in the beginning spoke volumes of their estrangement. Yet as their interactions reawaken their past closeness, it was obvious how much they still cared for one another. Soon they were moving from friendship into something more. Lou and Sam shared a couple of sweet and tender moments but it was their honest and genuine conversations that made me love them together. They kept their promises to each other.

There were some awesome family dynamics in Our Way Back to Always. Lou's sister may have dropped out of school to become a young mom but she never failed to show up for Lou. Despite her busy schedule, Sam's mom knew when her son needed consoling. "Some doors aren't ours to open, but every single one of those rejections and struggles are steps to something more. Something that is yours and deserving of you." (p.308) The support system in this book was top notch.

Our Way Back to Always wasn't the most original story but I enjoyed all the real talks. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a family-centered first love story.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.