steffi_23's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For like 80% of this book I was going to give it 3 stars maybe because we got so little of their interactions that I honestly just didn’t really understand why they have ever been friends in the first place but the last 50 pages were honestly my favourite part of the book and also made me cry so I had to give it a higher rating
misterintensity's review against another edition
4.0
Before starting high school, BFFs James and Kat buried a time capsule in tribute to their friendship. When it comes time to dig it up after senior year the two are barely speaking. What made the “Forever” in BFF end for these two former BFFs? The end of their friendship is told in alternating chapters: James’s start after the end of senior year, Kat’s at the beginning. The shifting timelines may confuse some readers. Yet as one reads on the events alluded to in James’s chapters become clearer when reading about it as it happens from Kat’s perspective. What immediately becomes clear is that James and Kat are two different people and the end of their friendship is inevitable. There wasn’t one dramatic moment that ended their friendship, it was more like the two had grown apart. And yes, the end of their friendship is as heartbreaking if not more so. In balancing the two viewpoints, readers may prefer one over the other, yet it wasn’t any one thing that ended the girl’s friendship. Other books that focus on changing friendships include Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone and Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner.
Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC for this book.
Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC for this book.
dlberglund's review against another edition
2.0
I was ready to be invested and emotional about the breakup of a long term friendship, but I just wasn’t. The format had each chapter bouncing around in time, with titles like “November of Senior Year”, and I was often confused about what had or had not happened yet in the timeline. Plus, it shifted between the perspectives of the two girls in the friendship; one grew on me while the other soured for me. The ending didn't work for me either. So...not my favorite.
ilycrysel's review against another edition
3.0
The cutest YA about friendship and change, and how heartbreak can also be between best friends. So easy to read (I finished it in a night!) and a great book to read before heading for college
nkoller723's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bury's review against another edition
2.0
3.5/10. This book was forgettable. It is told from the perspectives of both girls, with one side of the story written chronologically, and the other side in reverse chronological order. A nice idea, but I think its poorly executed. The story isn't able to develop in way that makes sense, and neither can the characters. As readers, we don't get to see any growth. The entire conflict could be solved by the two characters communicating more. It was infuriating. By the end of the book, neither girl seems to have learned from their mistakes. Disappointing.
linneahedvig's review against another edition
4.0
This book made me feel really sad about friendship and decisions and really any kind of human connection. I know that wasn't the intention. Both Kat and James were fine, but I didn't identify with either of them. Their disconnection seemed inevitable, but the fact that they also seemed disconnected with all their other friends was too much. During these quarantine times I want books about people feeling alone and finding connection, so probably this was just bad timing for me.
I will also say that I got all the The Last Five Years joke in the book (they were good! very nice!), but I didn't realize until the very end that the book itself was doing the one person moving forward in time, one person moving backward in time thing!
I will also say that I got all the The Last Five Years joke in the book (they were good! very nice!), but I didn't realize until the very end that the book itself was doing the one person moving forward in time, one person moving backward in time thing!
mora55's review against another edition
I want to start out by saying that I really appreciate the focus of this book being a friend breakup! It's not something I've ever seen be the "major relationship" but it's all to real and painful and I thought it was portrayed very well (even though I've never had a friend close enough to break up with like this and thus intimately relate to Kat and James).
I was just really confused by the dual timelines and wish it had been told linearly. I kept getting confused about everyone's relationship statuses because we'd jump back in time but I didn't know how far back relatively and wasn't sure how people were supposed to react to each other. I also wanted to go back to earlier chapters after reading ones later on that were set earlier in the timeline just so they'd make more sense with the background information we'd obtained, and not in a the normal sense like "if you reread you pick up on more foreshadowing and things" but rather in a "oh maybe I'll understand what's going on now with the emotional beats and what these different thought processes are".
For some inexplicable reason, though, I really connected to James at odd intervals for no particular reason because we aren't similar in the least? Just sometimes the way she talked about interacting with people and some of her thought processes, and the way she (more than Kat, who seemed fairly oblivious) recognized that she and Kat may not be on the same wavelength anymore, and the way she realized she was changing and Kat wasn't and she was "best friend" only in name, really, for far longer than they'd both acknowledged it.
Kat I mainly just found irritating, though she did have depth so it wasn't about her just being a one-dimensional character or anything like that.
In summary: I found the dual timelines confusing, though it was for sure an interesting way to tell the story. I appreciated the focus on a friendship breakup and thought the emotions and thought processes with that were very well-portrayed and felt real. Overall, though, this book was forgettable.
I was just really confused by the dual timelines and wish it had been told linearly. I kept getting confused about everyone's relationship statuses because we'd jump back in time but I didn't know how far back relatively and wasn't sure how people were supposed to react to each other. I also wanted to go back to earlier chapters after reading ones later on that were set earlier in the timeline just so they'd make more sense with the background information we'd obtained, and not in a the normal sense like "if you reread you pick up on more foreshadowing and things" but rather in a "oh maybe I'll understand what's going on now with the emotional beats and what these different thought processes are".
For some inexplicable reason, though, I really connected to James at odd intervals for no particular reason because we aren't similar in the least? Just sometimes the way she talked about interacting with people and some of her thought processes, and the way she (more than Kat, who seemed fairly oblivious) recognized that she and Kat may not be on the same wavelength anymore, and the way she realized she was changing and Kat wasn't and she was "best friend" only in name, really, for far longer than they'd both acknowledged it.
Kat I mainly just found irritating, though she did have depth so it wasn't about her just being a one-dimensional character or anything like that.
In summary: I found the dual timelines confusing, though it was for sure an interesting way to tell the story. I appreciated the focus on a friendship breakup and thought the emotions and thought processes with that were very well-portrayed and felt real. Overall, though, this book was forgettable.
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
3.0
James and Kat have been best friends for years, and they always thought that would be the case forever. However, change is happening, and there are big things lying underneath the surface. Kat's trying to deal with a new, different relationship for both herself and her father; James' is working out what it is she wants in life, whether she can really plan for every eventuality, and what to do when the world gets shaken up. Both of them are growing: does that mean growing apart?
I really liked the concept of this novel, utilising two voices to tell a story both forwards and backwards. Such formats sometimes run the risk of having an unsatisfying ending, but that wasn't the case with this at all. The ending itself was absolutely beautiful (that last paragraph!!), and I really liked working out exactly how it was that the story ended linearly. However it did get really confusing at times, so I was left wondering whether the concept really worked in practice. It was difficult to follow and keep track, and I kept having to flick backwards and forwards to work out what was going on.
The theme of a friendship break-up also massively spoke to me; I think this is something that needs a lot more representation in YA, especially when taken as seriously as WUtbF took it. Friendship break-ups are hard!! They can be just as hard, and sometimes harder, than relationship break-ups, and they involve their own kind of grieving too. So I loved that this took that as it's main theme. The book was messy and heartbreaking, but also honest and hopeful.
The two main characters, in James and Kat, were really nuanced. I liked how differently they were portrayed and explored, but equally how well they worked together. Kat's acceptance of her sexuality was great, it was so refreshing to see this happen so quickly and easily, and I think this is an important narrative to have. I do wish James' attitude to Kat/Quinn had been more explored though as it felt a bit iffy. I can also see that people might be unsure of the portrayal of bisexuality as maybe being a fad or phase. I wasn't so sure about Quinn, I don't know, I just got kind of bad vibes from her? But I adored Logan, I think he was my favourite character overall!
It was a good book, just hampered by how confusing it was to follow I think.
I really liked the concept of this novel, utilising two voices to tell a story both forwards and backwards. Such formats sometimes run the risk of having an unsatisfying ending, but that wasn't the case with this at all. The ending itself was absolutely beautiful (that last paragraph!!), and I really liked working out exactly how it was that the story ended linearly. However it did get really confusing at times, so I was left wondering whether the concept really worked in practice. It was difficult to follow and keep track, and I kept having to flick backwards and forwards to work out what was going on.
The theme of a friendship break-up also massively spoke to me; I think this is something that needs a lot more representation in YA, especially when taken as seriously as WUtbF took it. Friendship break-ups are hard!! They can be just as hard, and sometimes harder, than relationship break-ups, and they involve their own kind of grieving too. So I loved that this took that as it's main theme. The book was messy and heartbreaking, but also honest and hopeful.
The two main characters, in James and Kat, were really nuanced. I liked how differently they were portrayed and explored, but equally how well they worked together. Kat's acceptance of her sexuality was great, it was so refreshing to see this happen so quickly and easily, and I think this is an important narrative to have. I do wish James' attitude to Kat/Quinn had been more explored though as it felt a bit iffy. I can also see that people might be unsure of the portrayal of bisexuality as maybe being a fad or phase. I wasn't so sure about Quinn, I don't know, I just got kind of bad vibes from her? But I adored Logan, I think he was my favourite character overall!
It was a good book, just hampered by how confusing it was to follow I think.