In the Orbit of You

Ashley Schumacher

YA Romance

In the Orbit of You is a YA story of enduring love from acclaimed author Ashley Schumacher, where a personality test reunites two friends and makes them second guess their careful plans.

It’s been years since Nova Evans last saw Sam. She was too young then to understand why he had to move away―and what it had to do with the cuts and bruises he got from home and never wanted to talk about. All she knew is that they promised to find each other when they were older, something she thought was impossible thanks to her and her mom moving around constantly. Until she bumps into Sam in her new school, and realizes he has clearly forgotten their childhood promise.

Sam Jordan has a plan for his accept his college football scholarship, date his girlfriend Abigail, and―most importantly―hide how much he wants to do something, anything other than The Plan™ his parents and coaches have set before him. It doesn’t matter if sometimes he finds himself thinking about the new girl he met in the cafeteria, a girl who reminds him of a past that hurts to remember.

When a school-wide personality test reveals Nova and Sam to be each others’ top matches―not only that, but a match of 99%, the highest in the school―they begin to remember why they were such close friends, all those years ago. As well as the myriad of reasons this new-yet-familiar, magnetic, sparkling thing between them will never, ever work out.

In the Orbit of You is a story about the enduring and changing nature of friendship, of the strange struggle between who you are and who you want to be, and finding your voice after trauma.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

“It seems silly that I don’t have an answer for who I actually am at the age of seventeen. Silly and terribly inconvenient.”

(4 / 5) After bumping into each other years after a bonded childhood, Nova and Sam find themselves once again living close. Each struggled through a traumatic childhood that only brought them together as kids but is a barrier as teens. Their friendship grows as they are matched through a school-wide personality test. This confirms their complex feelings for each other.

Ah the joys of teenage angst! I am getting pickier and pickier about which YA books I read. Teen romance is especially unappealing to me but teen drama goes in the same category. This why I tend to stick with fantasy for YA.

With that being said, I adore this author. She is one of the few that I don’t question if I will read her latest release. Her writing is somewhat poetic and perfectly matched to the passionate relationships of teens. I’m immediately enthralled by her writing each time. My favorite of her books is, Amelia Unabridged.

How does she continue to write romance that I love? And it’s YA! Schumacher excels in building relationships that are charming and realistic. She has the ability to make them feel more mature without taking away too much of their teen selves. The story she crafts is emotionally charged and beautiful in only a way she can create it.

I highly recommend this author for her beautiful writing but for her stories that will touch your heart.

General content summary: F words= 10

child physical abuse (injuries, previous, mentioned multiple times)

Adoption (previous)

Head injury from sports (and previously physical abuse)

M/F kisses

House fire

Cheating in a teen relationship 

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the copy!

The book releases March 19, 2024.

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