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Reading Cat’s personal journal a year after she leaves and gives it to Sam pains him so much that his friends ban him from reading it without their company. With every intention to stave off romance, Sam and Cat had fallen in love at first sight during a summer theater production. They were right to be hesitant. After all, Cat’s best friend/lover had just died, and Sam had been taken advantage of by a girl who liked him more than he did her. Sam and Cat defied their own rules to stay together until jealousy broke them apart. The journal reveals a side of the story that could change their destiny.
The chapters fill out Cat’s journal entries with Sam’s and Cat’s personal perspectives of events they describe and Sam’s experience reading them with his friends. Events such as the first kiss, arguments, and lovemaking are rehashed multiple times. While the repetition is tiresome at points, it makes clear the hold their relationship has on everyone involved. Yet, words do not do justice to their attraction. Sam and Cat both repeat that “there’s something about him/her….” Their elusive connection abides despite their friends’ advice that they move on. Constant “reminders of you” become rehearsals toward Sam’s epic epiphany and decisive action, a performance at which the ending hints but does not give away. The suspended tension driving the narrative gives way to hope.
Befitting youthful thespians, the writing style is dramatic. Exclamations, slang, and superlatives pepper the dialogue. Most of the scenes take place in Cat’s and Sam’s flats and a nearby pub for an intimate ambiance in which the small and constant cast of characters develops over long conversations and close-quarters run-ins. Drunken antics and much sex make this theatrical romance humorous and pop-culture fun.