Reviews with content warning for Grief - When You Were Everything

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk

6 reviews

katietotallybooked's review

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This YA book focuses on female friendships, and more specifically, female friendship breakups, and that is just one relationship experience that I don't think gets enough representation in fiction. Plus, it was really enjoyable and well written. The audio narrator was great too. As I'm just getting back into reading YA, I appreciated this as a nice YA contemporary to get in to.

Spoiler

It also does feature a romantic relationship, but I am so impressed by the backseat that relationship took. I think that was an intentional choice by the author and I commend them for it. And, the book doesn't end with Cleo & Layla becoming friends again, which I also appreciated because sometimes friendships do end and both parties move on.

This is definitely a book about friendship that I will share as a recommendation with YA readers. I also plan on reading more by Ashley Woodfolk.

Themes & Representation:

Grief
Parental Divorce
Bullying & Rumour Spreading
Father-Daughter Relationships
Bangladeshi / Islamic culture
LGBTQIA+

Content Warnings

briski's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I wanted so much more from this. All I want is a friendship break up story that is devastatingly cathartic and this was far too mild for that. It touched on good points but it wasn’t truly a story of friends drifting apart because of life changing or evolving. It was a classic high school friendship break up situation that I don’t really buy will still be a loss Cleo thinks about years later.

Surprise perk was god the Cleo and Dom bedroom scene was so sweet and swoon worthy. And while the twists and reveals were predictable they still had an impact but maybe that’s because I’m overly sensitive.

Content Warnings