A review by whimsicallymeghan
Here We Are Now, by Jasmine Warga

3.5

Taliah has never met or known who her father is, but she’s had a suspicion rock-star, Julian Oliver, is her father ever since she found a shoebox in her mother’s room. Cut to three years later and Julian Oliver shows up on her doorstep claiming that not only is he her father, but that his own father, her grandfather, is dying. This is her one chance to meet him and so on a very on the spot decision she takes off to meet and learn about her new family. This novel was good with a lot of heart, but it didn’t completely wow the reader, in fact there were elements that had them questioning the believability of the story and the way it was told felt off. First off, this novel was captivating and it had many quotable moments and really talked about love in such a way that’s not always seen; that’s what the reader really liked about this. But as for the actual plot, it felt very unbelievable in the way everything played out. For a character who we’re led to believe never let in a single person but her mother and her best friend, it made no sense that she would travel miles with a dad she’s never met to go and meet his family. It felt very out of character; the more we got to meet and understand the main character the more none of the plot made sense, it felt like reading a contradiction. Then the way this was told felt a little too out of convenience to the plot, because our main character would be finding out about her parents from her father, but then the flashback would be in her mother’s point of view, it was just strange. The reader understood it was to get her side, but the reader felt like if he was telling the story, then the flashbacks should have been in his point of view. It just didn’t read right. The romance side plot that was thrown in also didn’t do a lot for this reader; we understand why it was added, but there was already so much going on for such a short novel that this just felt added to the mix and didn’t get the true development it deserved. The characters were good though because they were deeply developed and we really got a sense of who they were; their flaws; how they wanted to change and be better. This wasn’t a bad novel at all, there were just parts that didn’t hit quite right for this reader. This is still a recommended read for great characters and lovely writing.