"Emergency Contact," by Mary H.K Choi

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K Choi tells the story of Penny Lee and Sam Becker. They meet in an unexpected way and bond over text messages. Penny and Sam bond over many things and tell each other secrets that they wouldn't share with anyone else. This novel presents that friendships can happen in unlikely ways. Mary H.K Choi wrote this novel to show how young people connect and deal with emotions in the world. She included how people connect and bond in real time today which is over text. She focused her novel on the themes of anxiety, loneliness, complicated family relationships, and identity. By writing this book, she wanted to show that people can develop meaningful friendships that can cause an unbreakable bond. 

Mary H.K Choi’s book Emergency Contact, follows the lives of Penny, a college student, and Sam, a struggling young adult who's a college dropout. They meet under unexpected and awkward circumstances and bond right after. They text secretly so nobody raises a suspicion, yet this ends badly for Penny since she's usually a quiet person and doesn't text much.  At the very beginning, Penny struggles with being a freshman in college and being in a complicated relationship with her mother. While Sam struggles with his financial and emotional problems. Once they meet, they text nonstop and create a great bond. They look after each other and give support to each other. Over the course of the book, a certain tightness occurs which leaves them to struggle over communication and individual issues. By the end, both characters confess their problems and grow emotionally together. At the beginning of the book for Penny, many people see her as guarded and somewhat isolated from others. She keeps her emotions bottled up, especially when it comes to her relationship with her mother. Many peers like her roommate, Jude, see her as an outsider and someone who doesn't really fit in. As for Sam, at the beginning of the book, he is seen as a mysterious type of person who struggles with financial and emotional instability. As the story goes on, Penny opens up more and begins to trust others, including Sam. Sam confronts his fear of intimacy and starts to learn to trust others as well. Penny is comfortable with herself even though she hasn't figured out everything that's wrong with her life. They both fall into a more self-accepting person. 

In this book, I personally really enjoyed reading Emergency Contact. The book reviews topics of loneliness, friendship, and bonding. I believe this book doesn't overdeliver and they have the perfect mix of their topics. I believe that you should buy this book if you need sweet strangers to become friends, leading to lovers. Penny and Sam were just people who knew each other and turned out at the end of the book to slowly drift into girlfriend and boyfriend. You would especially like this book if you enjoy cheesy, yet sweet talks between 2 people. This novel is just what you need to read once in your life if you enjoy a friends to lovers book.