Review: In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher

In the Orbit of You
Ashley Schumacher
Wednesday Books
Published March 19, 2024

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About In the Orbit of You

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.

My Review

I’ve been a huge fan of Ashley Schumacher’s novels so far, so I knew I was going to read this book as soon as I heard it announced for publication. I love the way she writes relationships. All the characters have really specific personalities and interesting ways of relating to one another. It makes the main characters’ friend cosmos seem very real.

This story addresses the trauma of childhood abuse and references Sam’s healing journey through therapy and his adoption into a family. I thought the author presented those sensitively but without romanticizing the harm that abuse causes. Nova recalls seeing bruises and injuries on Sam’s face and arms when they were little. She knew something was wrong but processed it much like a little kid would.

There’s a fair amount of romantic suspense and poor communication in this book. I know that’s a thing for some readers, so be aware if it’s something that would bother you. There are things that would end the story pretty early if the characters sat down and talked to one another.

The miscommunication tropes don’t usually bother me too much, so that wasn’t a hindrance for me. It made sense why Nova and Sam couldn’t be honest with others when they couldn’t even be honest with themselves. Also, weirdly, I think my favorite character was Sam’s girlfriend Abigail. She’s sweet and kind and doesn’t jump to conclusions. She invites Sam to communicate with her but she doesn’t hesitate to call him out when he’s wrong about things. I appreciated that about her a lot.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and its exploration of the gravitational pull between two people and what it means. If you like books with a more subtle, very slow-burn romance, this one will scratch that itch.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few f-bombs. A few other instances of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In one scene, a girl asks for help with a dress she’s tried on. The zipper is stuck, and she needs a boy to help her. He focuses very carefully on keeping things totally normal and not making it weird.

Spiritual Content
Emphasis on the meaning/value of a promise. Is making a promise good? Bad? Does it cause harm? I liked the story’s exploration of this idea.

Violent Content
Several references to physical abuse, though it’s not shown on scene. A boy experiences a football injury (off scene). Someone falls out of a tree and lands on the ground pretty hard. A fire makes it difficult for someone to get safely out of their house.

Drug Content
Sam remembers his dad hitting him for not cleaning up his dad’s empty beer bottles fast enough.

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