A review by sarasbookishlife
If He Had Been with Me, by Laura Nowlin
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Even though I knew what was coming, I still felt absolutely destroyed by this book 💔Â
I'm not sure where to start with this review so I'm just going to give some thoughts about why, as an adult, I still love YA novels (bare with me!)Â
There is something about childhood friends that is so weird and special and unlike any other friendship you make as an adult. Im talking about the neighbors you grew up riding bikes with and playing freeze tag with and just being young and goofy with because you dont know any other way. The world is small and the moments, no matter how much time passes, seem so significant and vivid.Â
By comparison adolesence feels like a fog. What was safe and warm turns into the absolute fucking minefield that is middle school and high school. The world is still small but the feelings are so damn big.Â
It's what makes coming of age and YA novels so moving. And Laura Nowlin captures that crazy, raw, exposed moment in time so perfectly in If He Had Been With Me.Â
The story follows next door neighbors, Autumn and Finny. As children they were best friends. Inseparable from birth. They grow apart slowly and then all at once as social circles, boyfriends and girlfriends, take them in different directions. Despite their best efforts to largely ignore one another Autumn cant ignore the thought that maybe things could have been different.Â
The story starts a little slow for me but about a third of the way in I was hooked and seriously rooting for these two to find a way back to eachother. The missed chances and stolen moments had me right in he feels! This is a heatbreaker y'all but as Autumn says "sometimes sad things are beautiful" ðŸ˜
I'm not sure where to start with this review so I'm just going to give some thoughts about why, as an adult, I still love YA novels (bare with me!)Â
There is something about childhood friends that is so weird and special and unlike any other friendship you make as an adult. Im talking about the neighbors you grew up riding bikes with and playing freeze tag with and just being young and goofy with because you dont know any other way. The world is small and the moments, no matter how much time passes, seem so significant and vivid.Â
By comparison adolesence feels like a fog. What was safe and warm turns into the absolute fucking minefield that is middle school and high school. The world is still small but the feelings are so damn big.Â
It's what makes coming of age and YA novels so moving. And Laura Nowlin captures that crazy, raw, exposed moment in time so perfectly in If He Had Been With Me.Â
The story follows next door neighbors, Autumn and Finny. As children they were best friends. Inseparable from birth. They grow apart slowly and then all at once as social circles, boyfriends and girlfriends, take them in different directions. Despite their best efforts to largely ignore one another Autumn cant ignore the thought that maybe things could have been different.Â
The story starts a little slow for me but about a third of the way in I was hooked and seriously rooting for these two to find a way back to eachother. The missed chances and stolen moments had me right in he feels! This is a heatbreaker y'all but as Autumn says "sometimes sad things are beautiful" ðŸ˜
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Infidelity