Things I'm Seeing Without You

August 14, 2017
Seventeen-year-old Tess Fowler’s life comes apart when her online boyfriend, Jonah, commits suicide. She drops out of school to live with her estranged father, who has started a (not terribly successful) business putting together unusual, life-affirming funerals for animals. Tess begins to help her father with the business, and she realizes that a funeral for Jonah is exactly what she needs to move on. When Tess is contacted by Daniel, Jonah’s college roommate and best friend, she learns several surprising things, including that Daniel is in love with her. In his first young adult novel, Bognanni (The House of Tomorrow) tackles several serious issues—including depression, suicide, and digital privacy—in a book disguised as a quirky love story. While he’s successful at building a romantic relationship between Daniel and Tess as they face the aftermath of Jonah’s death, the more difficult subject matter, such as the guilt they both carry, is only touched upon. And Bognanni’s adult characters are largely one-dimensional, particularly Tess’s father, who never moves beyond being a kooky, clueless dad. Ages 14–up. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group.

September 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Gutted by grief after losing Jonah, her Internet boyfriend, to suicide, Tess Fowler drops out of her boarding school, throws her laptop into a freezing cold lake, and then jumps in with all of her clothes on. Aimless and without other options, she ends up helping her absentee father with his struggling alternative funeral business. In the midst of this change, Tess is contacted by Jonah's college roommate Daniel, who reveals some unsettling information about Tess's relationship with Jonah. Tess and Daniel work through their grief while planning Jonah's funeral. In a different book, the setup might feel forced, but in this tender and hopeful YA debut, Tess's journey feels natural and earned. At its core, this novel is about a shared community of pain and recovery. Bognanni nails the messiness of grief in a way that is authentic to each protagonist's loss. The strength of the book lies in the evolution of the characters and their dealings with one another. These relationships grow tentatively and authentically-there are no cinematic declarations of love or tidy endings. The book will satisfy readers of realistic fiction with its dark humor, optimistic outcome, and thoughtful exploration of grief and family dynamics. VERDICT A first purchase for teen-serving libraries where realistic fiction is in high demand.-Susannah Goldstein, Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2017
When Tess Fowler discovers that Jonah, her online boyfriend, is dead, she escapes her Quaker boarding school for her father's home, where she finds him once again consumed by one of his harebrained schemes. Whether it's a fireworks-studded funeral for a beloved dog or a no-holds-barred celebration of a prizewinning racehorse, Tess' father is the guy to call for alternative end-of-life celebrations. But even though she's surrounded by funerals, the white teen still tries to hold on to Jonah. She haunts his Facebook page and emails him lists of things she is seeing without him. She knows he is dead and that it is just a matter of time before his page is taken down. Then one day she finds something online that changes everything. While Tess' loss feels genuine, it is unclear why she has fallen so hard for someone she barely knows. References to her anxiety feel more spliced-in than organic to her character development. Tess' self-destructive behavior--lying, hooking up with strangers, sexting, drinking, and drug use--has minimal consequences. Further, her unpredictability and lack of true self-awareness make her an unsympathetic and untrustworthy narrator. The attempt at tackling grief gets lost in a storm of bigger issues. Meandering, ineffectual, and misdirected. (Fiction. 15-18)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 Tess had only met Jonah in person once. Their love had grown through virtual intimacies, moments captured in texts and e-mails that allowed them to share the things I'm seeing without you. When Tess discovers, via Facebook, that Jonah is dead, she is so derailed that she drops out of school and heads for her estranged father's house to mourn in solitude. Then comes the real blow: Jonah's roommate, Daniel, has been masquerading as Jonah for the latter part of their correspondence. It turns out that Daniel felt an unusual kinship with Jonah, and as Jonah's mental illness progressed, Daniel stepped into the relationship with Tess. Who has Tess really loved then? It's a promising twist for a romance, but sparks never really fly between Tess and either boy. Even the exchange of naked photos comes across as pragmatic rather than passionate. A side plot concerning Tess' involvement in her father's funeral-planning business feels forced as well. Nevertheless, readers captivated by the premise of a long-distance romance subverted by tragedy may want to give this one a try.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Tess is shocked when her internet sort-of-boyfriend, Jonah, commits suicide; devastation becomes confusion when she learns Jonah's roommate, Daniel, wrote Jonah's emails. While Tess wallows and Daniel tries to make amends, she is drawn into her father's floundering funeral-planning business. Fans of verbose, philosophical teens may be drawn into Tess's eccentric experience with grief, but overblown dialogue stands in for authentic characterization.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)