2 Book Lovers Reviews

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I had been seeing a lot of hype around this book lately, so what’s a girl to do?  I jumped on the bandwagon.

I do read YA books, but sometimes I fear those books are just a little too “Y” for this adult. In the end, a good book is a good book, though, and I happily began reading If He Had Been with Me. I’m not going to lie at first I was afraid that the story wouldn’t really resonate with me, but as I read on, I was finding myself eagerly flipping the pages, wanting to know what had happened to Autumn and Finn(y).

As I was reading, I felt those “old school” vibes that I used to get when I was reading a number of years ago. It was as if the subject matter that I was reading was brand-new again. While there was nothing truly “new” about the subject matter, I loved how the story was told. I was completely sold on the storyline, the friendship, the young love, the angst of those teenage years, and I was brought back to those achingly difficult years of growing up.

Despite the fact that I knew what was going to happen, I still wanted to see how Autumn and Finn’s story unfolded. I wanted/needed to see what had happened to their relationship. Throughout the novel, I could feel the emotions that were swirling around them, the love and true friendship that never truly disappeared. However, there were many times when I wanted to tap Autumn on the shoulder and give her some sage advice, to perhaps guide her in the right direction, but this is a YA novel, and we all know that the characters are going to make mistakes, have miscommunication, and have it all laden with a good heaping dose of angst. And, yes, I was all in for that.

If He Had Been with Me was an emotional novel that packed a punch. Laura Nowlin delivered a book that I didn’t even know I needed, but I’m certainly glad that I jumped on that bandwagon and read it.

*4.5 Stars, but the more I think about it, perhaps it does deserve *5 Stars!