Just recently published, “Ill Meet You There” is Heather Demetrios’ seventh novel release.

Let’s be honest; I bought this novel purely based on how beautiful the cover is. Old, vintage, rusted motel signs in the foreground of an off-screen sunset. I love everything this cover suggests about the novel. A classic, eccentric setting off an old highway, bustling with transients and probably abundant in illegal escapades.

The novel itself… didn’t quite hit that mark. It did accomplish some things though, so let’s dive in and see what all it was about.

“I’ll Meet You There” takes place in a small town called Creek View off of highway 99, somewhere between Los Angeles and San Diego, where the entire community lives in trailer homes and has severely limited access to most conveniences. There is a single bodega, a mechanic shop, a Taco Bell, a gas station and the Paradise Motel. Everything else is at least an hour drive.

For the most part, the town is anything but active. Teenagers and new adults seem to be the only people who move around. Even the motel, the most prolific sub-setting of the novel, feels lifeless most of the time. And it was intended. Creek View is a dead end. People don’t move in, don’t move out and rarely pass by. While I understood the reasoning, The Paradise Motel just needed more activity. As is, I think it was a wasted opportunity of a great setting because it ultimately added nothing to the heart of the town.

Our Protagonist, Skylar Evans, is fresh out of high school, working at the Paradise Motel and can’t wait to finally get out of her dead end town to attend SFU, which she has just been accepted to. Money is tight and her mother has just lost her job at Taco Bell. At the same time, Josh Mitchell has just returned to Creek View early after losing his leg to a bomb in Afghanistan. Josh has always been a womanizer, which is why Skylar refused to let herself like him, but now he seems to be a changed, and scarred, man.

I was very torn about the characters in this novel. Skylar is the only innocent person that exists in Creek View. I don’t quite believe it. It feels like she was somehow miraculously averse to the entire culture. At the same time, I genuinely have sympathy for her. Her life is soul draining for someone her age. I thought most of her inner dialogue and thoughts were wonderfully pulled together to portray this new adult girl on the cusp of making her own life.

There’s a whole lot of “bro-speak” in the early parts of the novel, including from Josh. It was jarring for while. It made me lose concentration on the moments that were happening and their significance. However, it seemed to tone down fast. By page seventy, I felt totally immersed in the world and knew I was in for the ride.

The last thing I really want to say about “I’ll Meet You There” is its length. It’s 379 pages, which isn’t bad, but there were two moments in the main plot where I thought this could definitely be the climax but both times something random, too random, happened and drew things out longer than they honestly needed. I don’t think I would have removed the story that came after either of those moments, but I would have removed the moments themselves so that the story did not feel like it was running on for the sake of an odd, uncharacteristic decision.

I did enjoy reading this, a lot more than I expected to after the introductions. If it interests you, go check it out. You can find it easily on Amazon along with any major bookseller.

3.5/5