ARC Review: “You Can Go Your Own Way” by Eric Smith

“You Can Go Your Own Way” by Eric Smith

Publishing Date: November 2, 2021

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA, Fiction

Page Length: 304 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.

Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. She lost all her friends. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.

But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops? 

Review:

You Can Go Your Own Way is a YA novel by Eric Smith whom I’ve previously read from before. Like, in Don’t Read the Comments this book is set in the world of gaming but focuses on pinball and e-sport games. World City Pinball (one of the main settings of the novel) sounds like the coziest arcade to visit and I love that its charm is that it’s filled with classic pinball games. The only downside is that the pinball games are expensive to replace and Adam’s family business is having a hard time financially. On the other hand, his ex-best friend Whitney’s family has an e-sport cafe that is booming. Since her dad has acquired the shop everything changed between them and she feels the only way to salvage their relationship is to work at the cafe.

I really enjoyed reading You Can Go Your Own Way. The banter between friends and family and the realistic characters make up a contemporary story that you can really get behind. I also enjoyed the references to gaming culture embedded in the novel. I think that this novel was very soothing and cozy. I appreciated that while touched on difficult topics it balances them with mini light-hearted and fun memorable moments. Is it a story about romance but it’s also a story about how painful friendship breakups can be and what happens when you lose a good friend and how to try to reconnect from the rift.

There’s a strong sense of community that in the Old City neighborhood in Philly where the story was set. Readers get to see how these businesses come together not only for the festival but in times of need. The main characters felt very real and even when they make some decisions that are frustrating because they’re meddling in affairs they still are characters you can root for. The way that Adam and Whitney go about repairing the relationship was really heartwarming and I like that the pacing of the relationship was not rushed as they go about repairing their rift.

Final Verdict:

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and hoenst review.