In this emotional debut novel, a young couple hits the road in order to put their pasts in the rearview mirror.
Eighteen-year-old Will rescues his 15-year-old girlfriend, Zoe, in his Camaro from her often-drunk and abusive father. Will has to fight off her intoxicated father before they can flee North Dakota for Las Vegas. The kidnapping and assault charges are the first of many they face, which cast an unwanted spotlight on the couple while they're on the run. Will and Zoe narrate in alternating chapters, their voices distinct: foster-boy Will struggles to contain his temper ("This anger person: he needs to go away before I destroy us both"), and naive Zoe romanticizes her boyfriend ("he's become my new belief"). Their compelling love grows on the road as they dig deeper into the dark secrets behind their escape.
Kristin Halbrook writes of doomed love in a way reminiscent of Gayle Forman's If I Stay and Tabitha Suzuma's Forbidden. These optimistic teenagers continue fighting for a future, even when the odds are stacked against them--including a warrant out for Will's arrest. A poignant scene of Will driving to his old home sets the mood for the devastating final chapters.
Nobody But Us illustrates the consequences of impulsively running away from what's chasing you without carefully considering what lies ahead. --Adam Silvera, Paper Lantern Lit intern