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A review by rachieanniereads
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i'm really struggling to understand how this book has so much hype. this was...poorly written, i'm sorry.
where to begin...?
the narrative choice of giving us the ending at the beginning was certainly a choice. can't confirm if it was a good one. it took some of the emotional impact out of it, but also made the rest of the book feel like it was written in an odd mix of present and past tense. it seemed like Autumn was speaking/thinking in reflections, but it was written in present tense.
the whole book was telling us everything, but showing us nothing. we got told, repeatedly, how cool, edgy and different Autumn/her friend groups was, but didn't get to see any of that. her "i'm not a cool kid if i do *insert thing here* because the normal popular kids are doing it" internal monologue made me cringe. the only way we were shown that she was super different and quirky and weird xd lol was that she wore a tiara...all the time...with every outfit. i don't understand pls.
the dialouge was so clunky. we barely got any for the first half of the book. but when we did get dialouge it was dry and unrealistic. "okay." "haha." "oh." it felt like reading someone talk to their nonchalant situationship that doesn't care to hold a conversation.
the descriptions of high school like felt so stereotypical with no level of realism. popular cheerleaders that have an unspoken rivalry with the edgy kids? not cookie cutter at all.
again, so many aspects of this felt unrealistic especiallymultiple pregnancies among the characters after one singular time having unprotected sex. yes, it's possible, but also not common enough for it to happen twice within the same novel. one felt unnecessary, and the other felt like a convenient plot device to prevent suicide
i'm genuinely confused if i read the same book as all these 5 star reviews. 2 stars just because i did feel compelled in some way to finish it.
where to begin...?
the narrative choice of giving us the ending at the beginning was certainly a choice. can't confirm if it was a good one. it took some of the emotional impact out of it, but also made the rest of the book feel like it was written in an odd mix of present and past tense. it seemed like Autumn was speaking/thinking in reflections, but it was written in present tense.
the whole book was telling us everything, but showing us nothing. we got told, repeatedly, how cool, edgy and different Autumn/her friend groups was, but didn't get to see any of that. her "i'm not a cool kid if i do *insert thing here* because the normal popular kids are doing it" internal monologue made me cringe. the only way we were shown that she was super different and quirky and weird xd lol was that she wore a tiara...all the time...with every outfit. i don't understand pls.
the dialouge was so clunky. we barely got any for the first half of the book. but when we did get dialouge it was dry and unrealistic. "okay." "haha." "oh." it felt like reading someone talk to their nonchalant situationship that doesn't care to hold a conversation.
the descriptions of high school like felt so stereotypical with no level of realism. popular cheerleaders that have an unspoken rivalry with the edgy kids? not cookie cutter at all.
again, so many aspects of this felt unrealistic especially
i'm genuinely confused if i read the same book as all these 5 star reviews. 2 stars just because i did feel compelled in some way to finish it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy