Review | Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler

Reagan Forrester wants out—out of her trailer park, out of reach of her freeloading mother, and out of the shadow of the relationship that made her the pariah of Charytan, Kansas.

Victoria Reyes wants in—in to a fashion design program, in to the arms of a cute guy who doesn’t go to Charytan High, and in to a city where she won’t stand out for being Mexican.

One thing the polar-opposite best friends do agree on is that wherever they go, they’re staying together. But when they set off on a series of college visits at the start of their senior year, they quickly see that the future doesn’t look quite like they expected. After two years of near-solitude following the betrayal of the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, Reagan falls hard and fast for a Battlestar Galactica-loving, brilliant smile-sporting pre-med prospective… only to learn she’s set herself up for heartbreak all over again. Meanwhile, Victoria runs full-speed toward all the things she thinks she wants… only to realize everything she’s looking for might be in the very place they’ve sworn to leave.

As both Reagan and Victoria struggle to learn who they are and what they want in the present, they discover just how much they don’t know about each other’s pasts. And when each learns what the other’s been hiding, they’ll have to decide whether their friendship has a future.

4.5 cupcakes
Is it too early to say that Just Visiting is my favourite contemporary of the year? It perfectly captures the uncertainty that surrounds post-secondary life – there are so many options and possibilities to explore, and it’s kind of overwhelming because what if you make the wrong choice? College is an opportunity to be independent and reinvent yourself – whether it’s changing your name to “Tori” like Vic did, or going from waist-length hair to a pixie cut like 18 year old me did – so I loved how true to my experiences this book rang. Most importantly, though, I loved the emphasis that Adler placed on finding the path that is right for you – that could be college/university, but the traditional choice isn’t the only choice.

Just Visiting is also very much a book about friendship. I loved watching the relationship between Vic and Reagan grow from people who are friends by default to true best friends, as they learned to share their whole selves, without reservations. And I also loved how Vic and her mom were incredibly close – it’s nice to have parents who are present and invested in their children’s lives.

Just Visiting also covers a lot of issues while remaining un-preachy, including poverty and having an unsupportive home life. The characters are very diverse, but they aren’t just there to fill a requirement; all of these characters’ identities are touched upon, even if just briefly. I loved how sex-positive Just Visiting is: it deals with consent, unprotected sex, and birth control, and is very clearly against slut-shaming.

The only aspect of Just Visiting that I didn’t love was the romance. I liked the banter and the love interest, but the way that Reagan treated him made it very hard for me to become fully invested in its success.

Overall, I have a feeling that Just Visiting will be one of my favourite contemporaries of the year. It’s diverse, sex-positive, and has a healthy and positive friendship – all of which are major plusses in my book.

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