Reviews with content warning for Death - If He Had Been with Me

Reviews tagging 'Death'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

460 reviews

josie_bookstagram's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"This is the saddest part of any day, when too much time has passed to create happiness while it is still light out."

I really wanted to like this book because I'd seen so many people talk so highly about it, but for me, it just didn't match up to the hype. The writing seemed very "young". The story was super slow to get started, then the final few chapters just seemed really rushed to get to the cliffhanger.

It wasn't a bad read overall, it was OK but I definitely wouldn't actively recommend it and I'm glad it was included with Audible and I didn't have to use a credit for it.

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mrsmishler's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

3.0

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giamarie's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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that_booktok_lover's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

okay i honestly thought this book was great but there was one thing i didn’t like. Autumn and her tiara. I swear i can go on and on about that thing. Every time i tried to forget it existed she wore it again. I mean, i get wearing it for dress up and on occasion, but every day, especially in high school, is a little excessive. And It was kind of like reading journal entries from a 15 year old naive high schooler, in a way. But, aside from the tiara and that, it was an okay book. The plot most thickened at the end, but thats fine, because i was waiting for Autumn and Finny to get together, and when they did

, well, he died.

And when i read that

he died

, i was in class and trying not to sob. This book wrecked me. It ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Nice three stars

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zaesbookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

- I understand why I saw this on a lot of “read this if you wanna feel emotions” tiktok recs, though I didn’t get quite attached enough to it to actually cry
- I called the ending 15% into it and found it pretty predictable in general
- I enjoyed the way of storytelling
- the actions/thoughts/dialogue felt very on par with high school aged people, but there was a thing or two that could be argued as teenagers thinking they’re invincible but really just felt like a super convenient plot device (

I’m sorry - you just watched one of your closest friends get pregnant after having unprotected sex their first time and then you have unprotected sex your first time?? Silly.

)
- narration is a bit slow - I usually listen on a 1.25 speed, but spent most of this book on 1.5 or 1.75
- cliffhanger / unresolved ending
-overall, it was an easy book but I wasn’t in love with it.

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