A review by tabatha_shipley
What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
5.0
What I Didn’t Like:
-Slightly formulaic. This is pretty common in YA romance, so I can forgive it. Plus it gets extra forgiveness because there aren’t enough LGBTQ romance stories for them to even be formulaic.
-Pop culture reference overload. Hamilton, Harry Potter, Sims, and more. This one features a lot of references that are going to date the story, making it less than timeless.
What I Did Like:
-Voice. Both boys have a unique voice that grabs you right away. I was laughing out loud more than once. The personalities come through and the characters read REAL.
-Adorable. That’s exactly the word you want to use when describing a YA romance. The story is adorable. The relationship is adorable. The way they have a misunderstanding is adorable. That entire romance line worked.
-Ending. Part of the reason why I adore YA romance is the way the endings never feel the need to be happily-ever-after. They’re more real than that. They’re more relatable than that. This ending worked.
-Gay representation. The book is unapologetically gay. The story is focused on two boys who fall in love. It doesn’t apologize for that, it doesn’t feel the need to explain that and for that reason I love it.
Who Should Read This One:
-YA Romance fans. The story is adorable, the romance is well written, and it totally contains swoon worthy date moments.
-YA Contemporary fans. The two boys read as real teens and that works. They’re dealing with summer internships, friendship drama, summer school issues, and relationships. It’s relatable and works.
-LGBTQ readers or fans, obviously.
The Verdict: 5 Stars. This one will appeal to a lot of readers across a few genres. It has a great voice and it’s worth the read! Side note: the narrators for the audiobook did a BEAUTIFUL job of bringing it to life.
-Slightly formulaic. This is pretty common in YA romance, so I can forgive it. Plus it gets extra forgiveness because there aren’t enough LGBTQ romance stories for them to even be formulaic.
-Pop culture reference overload. Hamilton, Harry Potter, Sims, and more. This one features a lot of references that are going to date the story, making it less than timeless.
What I Did Like:
-Voice. Both boys have a unique voice that grabs you right away. I was laughing out loud more than once. The personalities come through and the characters read REAL.
-Adorable. That’s exactly the word you want to use when describing a YA romance. The story is adorable. The relationship is adorable. The way they have a misunderstanding is adorable. That entire romance line worked.
-Ending. Part of the reason why I adore YA romance is the way the endings never feel the need to be happily-ever-after. They’re more real than that. They’re more relatable than that. This ending worked.
-Gay representation. The book is unapologetically gay. The story is focused on two boys who fall in love. It doesn’t apologize for that, it doesn’t feel the need to explain that and for that reason I love it.
Who Should Read This One:
-YA Romance fans. The story is adorable, the romance is well written, and it totally contains swoon worthy date moments.
-YA Contemporary fans. The two boys read as real teens and that works. They’re dealing with summer internships, friendship drama, summer school issues, and relationships. It’s relatable and works.
-LGBTQ readers or fans, obviously.
The Verdict: 5 Stars. This one will appeal to a lot of readers across a few genres. It has a great voice and it’s worth the read! Side note: the narrators for the audiobook did a BEAUTIFUL job of bringing it to life.