A review by notlikethebeer
We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding
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.