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A review by yas_sezer
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
3.0
3/5, this book wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t good either? i’m saying that, did i sob for a good 10 minutes and felt sad the rest of the day? yes. but i don’t even think this was justified
i found the writing to be veryyyy YA, which is expected and was getting a little bored at certain parts. i found it difficult to really connect to any of the characters (somehow cried for finny, idk how). it didn’t feel like a book that i’d walk away from and cherish. was a palette cleanser for me.
cheating tropes have never been it for me. i don’t stand for cheating whatsoever, in any form. both of these characters were emotionally cheating on their partners the entire time, so honestly rooting for them to get together was not something i was genuinely doing. their partners deserved better. if finny and autumn had communicated they would’ve been together years ago. it just wasn’t a good enough reason for me. i can’t justify their actions. literally emotional and then physical cheating (from finny in particular). i can’t forgive that.
positives i guess were the friendships. i enjoyed seeing the growth from childhood to high school friendships and seeing the characters discover themselves and explore new emotions and feelings. it felt nostalgic to when i was in high school and i remembered my own feelings through the characters. also, the representation of depression in autumn’s mother i appreciated, especially from a younger girls perspective. seeing it both in autumn and her mother and the similarities and differences was insightful, particularly for a younger audience. the father issues made me laugh a little because they felt very familiar to me. besides this, it was an easy read, but that’s kinda it.
there isn’t much else i’d like to add to this review, especially since i’m writing it after sitting on it for a while, soaking the book in. i haven’t thought of this since i finished it and don’t feel any emotions when thinking of the characters anymore. clearly it hasn’t impacted me much.
summary for me:
autumn and finny are childhood besties, have been in love w each other forever but no one will say anything at all, typical miscommunication trope. they both date other people (jaime and sylvie) and grow apart coz of different friend groups but still see each other at home. we see autumn find herself and the story of her friendships and understanding her emotions more until her and finny get together. finny picks up his girlfriend sylvie to break up with her, they have a car accident, he gets electrocuted and dies.
i found the writing to be veryyyy YA, which is expected and was getting a little bored at certain parts. i found it difficult to really connect to any of the characters (somehow cried for finny, idk how). it didn’t feel like a book that i’d walk away from and cherish. was a palette cleanser for me.
cheating tropes have never been it for me. i don’t stand for cheating whatsoever, in any form. both of these characters were emotionally cheating on their partners the entire time, so honestly rooting for them to get together was not something i was genuinely doing. their partners deserved better. if finny and autumn had communicated they would’ve been together years ago. it just wasn’t a good enough reason for me. i can’t justify their actions. literally emotional and then physical cheating (from finny in particular). i can’t forgive that.
positives i guess were the friendships. i enjoyed seeing the growth from childhood to high school friendships and seeing the characters discover themselves and explore new emotions and feelings. it felt nostalgic to when i was in high school and i remembered my own feelings through the characters. also, the representation of depression in autumn’s mother i appreciated, especially from a younger girls perspective. seeing it both in autumn and her mother and the similarities and differences was insightful, particularly for a younger audience. the father issues made me laugh a little because they felt very familiar to me. besides this, it was an easy read, but that’s kinda it.
there isn’t much else i’d like to add to this review, especially since i’m writing it after sitting on it for a while, soaking the book in. i haven’t thought of this since i finished it and don’t feel any emotions when thinking of the characters anymore. clearly it hasn’t impacted me much.
summary for me:
autumn and finny are childhood besties, have been in love w each other forever but no one will say anything at all, typical miscommunication trope. they both date other people (jaime and sylvie) and grow apart coz of different friend groups but still see each other at home. we see autumn find herself and the story of her friendships and understanding her emotions more until her and finny get together. finny picks up his girlfriend sylvie to break up with her, they have a car accident, he gets electrocuted and dies.