The NerdHerd Reads: Because You'll Never Meet Me {by Leah Thomas}

Title: Because You'll Never Meet Me

Author: Leah Thomas

Genre: YA Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: NetGalley

Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.
A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine.

Wow. Guys, I loved this one. It was amazing. It was a wholly unique plot, which drew me in from the beginning. It was told with such a unique and strong voice that it's almost hard to believe that this is a debut.

This story is told in letters, which makes it all the more interesting. We follow two boys who live across the ocean from each other. Ollie lives in a cabin in the woods with just his mother, because he is allergic to electricity. He's missed out on all the normal childhood experiences. Moritz, while not a hermit, also has some...interesting issues that keep him from people. While he still has to go to school, he keeps to himself in hopes that people will not find out what is actually wrong with him. On top of that, his pacemaker means he and Ollie can never actually meet.

I love that this was a guy friendship book. I feel as if there's not nearly enough of those out there, and I really loved this bromance between the two. Thomas also managed to keep their voices distinct, which is a hard thing to do, especially in letter form. But she built up both the characters complexly, separately. Ollie is fun, quirky. Only having known a handful of people in his life, he doesn't adhere to normal social rules. I thought he was hilarious, although his super-happy outlook on life is often hiding his loneliness and despair. Ollie decides to write Moritz his autobiography of sorts, leading up to whatever happened with his friend, Liz. Moritz is a bit darker, closed in, he has a very cynical and angry outlook on life. I loved these characters, and I thought they were written very well. Both we complex and interesting and different.

But slowly, the boys begin opening up to each other, and become best friends. They help each other through dark times. Moritz is dealing with some serious bullying at school, and Ollie is spiraling deeper into despair over what happened with Liz. Both boys have some heavy baggage, and we slowly get to see it unfold. We get past rememberings with present happenings, and it all comes together to make one beautiful, complex story.

At the end, things come to light that take a turn from contemporary. Some people have said that it takes more of a Sci-Fi turn. I loved it. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it added an air of intrigue. I'm not sure that I would call it Sci-Fi, but just maybe not so realistic. I loved this book so much, and I'm not sure I was quite ready to say goodbye to Ollie and Moritz.

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