Given Our History on paper is truly my kryptonite:

➸ estranged childhood best friends to lovers

➸ dual timeline

➸ second chance romance

➸ tall smart soft spoken shy mmc (with glasses!)

➸ relatable fmc

➸ forced proximity

➸ just the right amount of angst

➸ "show me" micro-trope

➸ 2000's references and nostalgia

The writing was amazing and made it so easy to fly through this book, but around the 60% mark the pacing started to feel off, their palpable tension and chemistry from the teenage timeline not translating well into the present timeline. From that point it dragged on a bit, their reasoning for not talking to each other becoming annoying rather than understandable.

At first, I felt so seen by this book and really connected to Clara, I totally got her hesitation but then it reached a point where I wanted to yell at her "... girl. Take a swift step to the side AND GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY".

When a book starts out this amazing and then loses me along the way I'm always extra sad. I wish there was a bit more talking to each other and bit more of a satisfying resolution at the end.  Also more Teddy. I would have loved a chapter from his POV to get a glimpse into his brain. 

Still a great book, cozy fall vibes all the way through; the first half was a rock-solid 5 star read for me. I might want to reread next fall because I really loved the first part of it so much!

🎧 loved the narration! She made her voice sound younger for the different flashbacks, which I thought was great.