Time travel stories don’t always work but when they do, they can be really fun. I especially like it when music is involved and the OG time travel movie beloved by everyone – Back to the Future – is referenced. A love story written by husband and wife writing team Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, You & Me and You & Me and You & Me centers on a husband (Adam) and wife (Jules) who are in a rut and have two grown kids who also seem to be in a rut. During a huge fight, Adam and Jules stumble upon an old boom box, along with old mix tapes and mix CDs which become the vehicle for time travel. Music is referenced and enjoyed, the 90s and early 2000s timeframes are revisited, lessons are learned, mistakes are made, and the mix tapes and CDs are the common thread.
You & Me tells a sweet and realistic tale of what it means to have someone in your life for so long and what it takes to build a life together that includes kids. Adam and Jules are very relatable as they struggle with family, loss, lasting friendships, professional sacrifices, redemption, and remembering that love (and remembering to have fun) is what holds it all together. My only critique is that the book is a bit too long – maybe 30-40 pages could have been cut. Other than that, the story of music being the catalyst for two people finding each other and making a life together is the best kind of story.
Some of my favorite song references:
Iggy Pop “The Passenger”
Eagle-Eye Cherry “Save Tonight”
Fatboy Slim “Rockafeller Skank”
Outkast “Hey Ya”
Quotes
“A part of me still swoons at the nostalgia of these tapes, because I love music, like it’s something my core needs to function properly.”
“Everything we were. What brought us here. The soundtrack of our lives.”
“She’s brave in spite of all this, though.”
“Big news always takes a while to digest.”
“She’s always been diligent. I just wish she’d, I don’t know, lighten up.”
“Whenever I hear this song, it transports me back to a memory I can’t quite grasp – the way music so often does.”
“The resentment she’s feeling clashes with the relief of being held in his arms.”
“Breathing the same air as someone for 25 years, sleeping together in the same bed, eating together, drinking together, parenting together, losing loved ones together…bonds you emotionally and spiritually in a way that no amount of universes can ever tear apart.”
“For love to have a chance to find its own way, we both have to be free of thinking we can change things with a click of our fingers. We have to be free to make mistakes, puzzle them out for ourselves, and move on.”
“It’s been hard work, every step of the way, and will keep on being hard work. But it’s also been worth it and always will be.”
“Her mother’s expression on her face. The one that warns she will not be fucked with.”
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