Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked up Emergency Contact as Book #6 for my TBR-Haul Project. I hauled it all the way back in July of 2018 and then for some reason never picked it up.
My initial attraction, and frankly the reason I bought it, was for the cover. I mean, look at her! She’s stunning. I was also hearing great buzz for it at the time though.
In spite of the fact that it’s been collecting dust all that time, I have never really lost interest in the story. After picking it up, I’m disappointed in myself for neglecting it for so long!
This story is set in Austin, Texas and follows two main characters, Penny and Sam.
Penny is just entering her first year of college. With dreams of being a writer, she’s looking forward to getting to Austin and leaving her small town life behind.
Penny was raised by a single mom, who she loves so much, but has a complicated relationship with. Penny’s mom was young when she had her and sometimes, to Penny, it feels more like she is the parent than the child.
Sam is in his early-20s and he is in a major rut. After a break-up, he’s stuck secretly living at the coffee shop in which he works.
He dreams of becoming a filmmaker, but those dreams are on hold at the moment, as he just tries to struggle through day-to-day life. Being newly sober is the icing on the cake, but he does his best to make it work.
When Sam and Penny meet through Penny’s new college roommate Jude, it’s silently like a gut punch for them both, but they don’t make a real connection until later.
A chance encounter finds them alone and the serious experience they go through together that night creates a bond that they keep all to themselves.
From that point forward, they remain in daily contact via text messages and an all-consuming relationship blooms through that remote form of interaction.
As they continue to get to know one another, feelings and emotions begin to grow, but will the two be able to take it from the screen to IRL?
The audiobook format of this story swept me away. We have two narrators, one for Penny and one for Sam and they truly brought this narrative to life. I genuinely felt like I was listening to Penny and Sam tell their stories.
I absolutely adored both of these characters. Penny especially. The way she thought and viewed the world, it was so natural and relatable. I loved her sense of humor or sort of snarky attitude towards life.
Sam was such a sweetie, who although he had been let down by many people in his life, still managed not to be jaded and just had the kindest heart.
In addition to loving them individually, I loved the chemistry and banter between these two. From the very first moment they met, I knew we were bound to have something special here. Watching their relationship grow through a less traditional medium than face-to-face interaction made it that much more enjoyable.
There was a certain level of pining that came with it that I’m not sure we would have experienced otherwise.
Both of these characters were dealing with different and very serious life issues involving family, past traumas and self-confidence. Watching them work through those things, and help each other work through those things, was believable and ultimately left me feeling hopeful.
I was surprised by how connected I felt to these characters as the story progressed. I haven’t really been picking up a lot of Contemporary stories recently and this one revamped my interest in these types of topics and narratives.
I am definitely planning to read more of Mary H.K. Choi’s work. If it is half as great as this, I have a lot of stellar reading ahead from this author!
