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bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
This was a really cute read. I loved both of leads, their point of views were both a tray to read, as they felt very distinct. I loved all of the characters, settings, plot themes. A joyful reads without being overly saccharine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cursing and Medical content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
james1star's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was a very cute and enjoyable read that I would recommend. The book starts with Arthur, visiting New York from Georgia for the summer, having a chance meet-cute with native New Yorker Ben. Both thinking there was something there and sensing a connection, they set out to find one another and when they do, struggle to nail down the ‘perfect’ first date. There’s more but I won’t say more for spoilers.
I really enjoyed the characters in this book, there was diversity, relatability and on the whole nice people to be around really making the reading experience a pleasant one. Both MCs were sixteen (I believe) with Arthur having ADHD but this isn’t really explained/explored that much, he’s taking a law internship but would prefer to do drama as loves musicals and broadway. Ben is an aspiring writer who struggles a lot with education and feelings of being unworthy talking summer school during the book’s duration. He’s from a Puerto Rican immigrant background and working class so the way he views money is impacted by this and something always on his mind, unlike that of others in the book which I felt was good representation. The side characters also had complexities and were brought to life by Albertalli and Silvera. Arthur’s friends from Georgia Jessie and Ethan weren’t that big but it was interesting seeing their dynamic and how Ethan seems a bit distant since Arthur had came out but it’s revealed why. Ben has his best friend Dylan who go way back, he has a heart condition and a coffee addiction and I did really love the friendship between them with a genuine platonic love. Others include Hudson, Samantha, Harriett, Juliet, Namrata and also the parents who were great in the way they dealt with their son’s endeavours and being gay not having an issue which is amazing to see.
There is some miscommunication and messiness which was frustrating at times and did mean the book felt a little too long. However, it also felt real and I would say is done well. I did like the ending and might pick up the sequel if I find it second hand but also happy to end it here. One problem that did annoy me a lot was how many Harry Potter references there were which left me eye rolling many times and just felt unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
robinks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was such a cute story, with a fun cast of characters (that the voice actors brought to life beautifully). The conflicts between the guys and their feelings were so realistic. I can’t wait to listen to the sequel, especially after the epilogues!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical content, and Alcohol
justinekorson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It really is a book thats been SET in it's timeline. The story was published in 2018 and honestly... that's when you should have read it. I bought it back then but never got to it. Because of this, reading it in 2024 wasn't a good experience.
All the references to Harry Potter weren't it for me. I haven't been a supporter or fan of Rowling in a long time because of all the trashy shit she's said over the part few years. This book came out JUST BEFORE she made all those TERF comments on Twitter(X) so I didn't like reading that. There was also so many references to Hamilton too that it was honestly annoying. It felt like every other page had either a Hamilton reference or a Harry Potter one and I didn't enjoy that.
Arthur and Ben's third act break up was also... so overdramatic?? I felt like I was watching some reality TV show where the people exaggerate everything. I understood where Arthur was coming from, thinking Ben was cheating on him but they were literally in a public place yelling at each other and then Arthur turns around and yells at his best friends for hiding their relationship from him. when they tried to apologize Arthur twisted their words around so badly that he upset himself AGAIN when all he had to do was listen to his friends. It was especially shitty because... Arthur never even really apologizes for being a bad friend. He'd practically dumped Jessie and Ethan when he started dating Ben and when he did talk to them, all he talked about was Ben. It was so painfully obvious that Ethan and Jessie wanted to tell Ben something too but he never caught on.
Overall... I wish I read the book sooner and I also don't know how I feel about reading the sequel I have.
All the references to Harry Potter weren't it for me. I haven't been a supporter or fan of Rowling in a long time because of all the trashy shit she's said over the part few years. This book came out JUST BEFORE she made all those TERF comments on Twitter(X) so I didn't like reading that. There was also so many references to Hamilton too that it was honestly annoying. It felt like every other page had either a Hamilton reference or a Harry Potter one and I didn't enjoy that.
Arthur and Ben's third act break up was also... so overdramatic?? I felt like I was watching some reality TV show where the people exaggerate everything. I understood where Arthur was coming from, thinking Ben was cheating on him but they were literally in a public place yelling at each other and then Arthur turns around and yells at his best friends for hiding their relationship from him. when they tried to apologize Arthur twisted their words around so badly that he upset himself AGAIN when all he had to do was listen to his friends. It was especially shitty because... Arthur never even really apologizes for being a bad friend. He'd practically dumped Jessie and Ethan when he started dating Ben and when he did talk to them, all he talked about was Ben. It was so painfully obvious that Ethan and Jessie wanted to tell Ben something too but he never caught on.
Overall... I wish I read the book sooner and I also don't know how I feel about reading the sequel I have.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Chronic illness, Racism, Medical content, and Alcohol
thebookpaiges's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Classism
mj_86's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism
thetinysnail's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
whosfernn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A beautiful story about teenage love and longing (plus how it's possible to be friends with your exes). Totally going to read the sequel if I get chance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime and Homophobia
Moderate: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, and Alcohol
ericadawson's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-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
3.25
My caveat is that I don't normally like/read romcoms, but I'm always willing to branch out when I can. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped.
In What If It's Us, we're taken through the month-long romantic journey of a post-office meetcute between Ben and Arthur. I liked Ben, I liked his comparatively chill personality, and I liked that he was chill for the most part. His aloofness being a result of just a nervous nature was nice.
I did not like Arthur. His sometimes annoyingly horny antics and internal thought processes had me cringing through a good deal of his PoV chapters. I can't really root for someone who's so socially unaware that he'll call his Puerto Rican boyfriend "so white" and then buy 36 condoms and brings all of them to his boyfriends house because he wants sex and just assumes his boyfriend is ready. Arthur's flaws aren't flaws that I'm against--but I hate their execution. He lacks self awareness and I'm not really sure he gained it by the end of the book, although the epilogue was nice.
He's also rude, and his frankly extreme jealous had me groaning and rolling my eyes (if your boyfriend and your boyfriend's ex both leave the summer school building because summer school is over for the day, then "why is he (ex-bf) here?" has a painfully obvious answer that is not "cheating"). In general, I found Arthur's voice/writing to be weaker than Ben's overall.
It's a shame, because at first I was really rooting for Ben and Arthur to get together. But what ended up happening was that both of them got more annoying and gave me more secondhand embarrassment after they got together. A Hamilton obsession on top of a JKR/Harry Potter obsession on top of an Obama-worship personality is a lot for two teens in one book. Considering that Hamilton is explicitly racist (why would you make slave owners Black unless you didn't like Black people?), Obama had some serious scandal with his drone strike program, and JKR is.....what she is now, this book was frankly painful to read.
The dialogue was nice at first, if only because I'm more used to the formality of high fantasy writing, but that also got old (mainly on Arthur's end) very quickly as well. Dylan's personality got old as well. I lost patience with the former very quickly, and I really lost sympathy when he basically threw a temper tantrum outside Ben's school over a wild assumption he made.
Can I say this book had potential? I'm not sure. Arthur annoyed me throughout. I liked Ben a decent amount. I really like Sam, but Sam and Dylan came across like adults or at least older teens than Ben and Arthur. Too much second-hand embarrassment for me to really settle in. Three and something stars.
In What If It's Us, we're taken through the month-long romantic journey of a post-office meetcute between Ben and Arthur. I liked Ben, I liked his comparatively chill personality, and I liked that he was chill for the most part. His aloofness being a result of just a nervous nature was nice.
I did not like Arthur. His sometimes annoyingly horny antics and internal thought processes had me cringing through a good deal of his PoV chapters. I can't really root for someone who's so socially unaware that he'll call his Puerto Rican boyfriend "so white" and then buy 36 condoms and brings all of them to his boyfriends house because he wants sex and just assumes his boyfriend is ready. Arthur's flaws aren't flaws that I'm against--but I hate their execution. He lacks self awareness and I'm not really sure he gained it by the end of the book, although the epilogue was nice.
He's also rude, and his frankly extreme jealous had me groaning and rolling my eyes (if your boyfriend and your boyfriend's ex both leave the summer school building because summer school is over for the day, then "why is he (ex-bf) here?" has a painfully obvious answer that is not "cheating"). In general, I found Arthur's voice/writing to be weaker than Ben's overall.
It's a shame, because at first I was really rooting for Ben and Arthur to get together. But what ended up happening was that both of them got more annoying and gave me more secondhand embarrassment after they got together. A Hamilton obsession on top of a JKR/Harry Potter obsession on top of an Obama-worship personality is a lot for two teens in one book. Considering that Hamilton is explicitly racist (why would you make slave owners Black unless you didn't like Black people?), Obama had some serious scandal with his drone strike program, and JKR is.....what she is now, this book was frankly painful to read.
The dialogue was nice at first, if only because I'm more used to the formality of high fantasy writing, but that also got old (mainly on Arthur's end) very quickly as well. Dylan's personality got old as well. I lost patience with the former very quickly, and I really lost sympathy when he basically threw a temper tantrum outside Ben's school over a wild assumption he made.
Can I say this book had potential? I'm not sure. Arthur annoyed me throughout. I liked Ben a decent amount. I really like Sam, but Sam and Dylan came across like adults or at least older teens than Ben and Arthur. Too much second-hand embarrassment for me to really settle in. Three and something stars.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Racism
eslsilver's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Medical content