Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - If He Had Been with Me

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

39 reviews

akusushi's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Made me sob so hard i snorted. Would never read again. Ending was rushed. Main character reminded me of me in high school. Made me reflect a lot on my own situations and relate them to the book (in a good and bad way). To everyone saying it’s cheesy/cringe: this is a high school romance. The characters are teenagers. Of course it will be cringe and cheesy, weren’t we all at some point in our youth? Anyways. The ending was predictable, what hurts is the lead up to it. #teamfinny

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hufwulf's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

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

3.5

finished this book in the course of two days, the plot is rather slow
seemed to be worth it to stick to the end, cried like a baby

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readyforit's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

3.75 ⭐️ 0.5 🌶️ (non-descriptive)
The style of writing is unique in that there’s not a lot of dialogue, but more like how a teenager would tell their diary what happened today. Takes you right back to hs🥲 a personally hard read because of this. -1 ⭐️ because it’s a sad beginning, first 2/3, and end, and bc of a trope I don’t like that popped up at the end. I would catch myself feeling hopeful for FMC and have to keep reminding myself she doesn’t get a HEA. Would reread, ready to get wrecked by the sequel.

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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

This book is told in chapters that feel like snapshots into the world of two teenagers, Finny and Autumn. They are in love with each other but are unwilling or unable to admit it to themselves or the other. They are fated to love one another — their mothers have been best friends for their entire lives. The last third of this book I just knew it was building toward something bad, the book just gave off a vibe. While the last third also gives you a lot of good, it’s a bittersweet ending. For some reason, I didn’t connect with the characters as much as I thought I would. But I still liked them. The ending made me sad, but I didn’t cry. I’m not sure what to make of that.

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k1m100_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Ending shocked the life out of me fr

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sunny_not's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

If the ending was not the stupidest ending that I have ever read this book could've been a 4 star read;however, although I really enjoyed the book till the 75% mark I really disliked how the author wrapped up the story. It felt like there were too many loose ends and

her getting pregnant does not tie the story in my opinion

So this book ended up being a meh.

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a solid read. It did a little too much hinting-to-the-end for me. Like I did read the beginning, friend. I know that we're headed somewhere traumatic, so I don't need a trillion reminders. But I did like that it captured the absolute messiness of high school and emotions and families. Felt a bit like it trailed off after the climax - like the end wasn't as strong. May read this author again.

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