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robinks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
WOW there were so many cringey and ridiculous scenes in this sequel, but the ending left me way more satisfied than the first book. My queer little heart loved the twists and turns in the last third of the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Cursing, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Vomit
zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Minor: Homophobia, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Medical content, and Vomit
thebookpaiges's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Cursing, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Vomit
thetinysnail's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Cursing
Minor: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Infidelity
amethystandherbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, and Homophobia
ingridmaria's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Classic comfort getting-back-together read where you know where it's going the whole time. Not sure I liked the characters as much as in the first book and I'm honestly missing some mess/angst/conflict.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia and Infidelity
mango_pxwder's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
ree_the_owlgirl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Mental illness
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
I discovered how much I enjoy second chance romances at the end of last year, so when I heard that Here's to Us was just that, a second-chance romance, I bumped it up my TBR.
I was expecting a sweet contemporary that would be an enjoyable read, but perhaps not a new favourite. Instead, I got a book that was fun, emotional, and brilliant, with just the right amount of drama and 'will they/won't they' moments.
The book picks up two years after the events of What If It's Us, with Ben in college trying to keep his writing dreams alive and Arthur returning to New York for an internship. Arthur has a boyfriend, Mikey, back at home and Ben is interested in Mario, a friend, who also seems to be interested in him.
But when the universe throws them a second chance, both begin to wonder if they called time on their relationship too early. As they begin to reconnect, Ben, Mario, Arthur, Dylan and Sam all start hanging out together and both Ben and Arthur begin to realise that they're not quite as over each other as they thought.
In this book, both Arthur and Ben are a little bit older and more mature and they're both considering what they want out of the next few years of their life. Ben is trying to decide if college is actually the right route for him and Arthur is thinking about what to do after his internship.
I've seen quite a few people saying that Here's to Us doesn't have much plot, but for me it was one of those books where lots of little things/events happen to give us a linear progression from point A to B. The group go for dinner, they go to the theatre, Arthur works at his internship, Ben works on his novel. We start at point A of them both being in New York and we get to point B which is the HEA we were rooting for.
Things start to get really interesting when Mikey travels to New York to visit Arthur, who then has to reevaluate what he wants in a relationship and if it's actually Mikey he wants to be with. It's messy and complicated, and there's a lot of back and forth (on Arthur's part) but I actually think it's quite realistic to real life.
Relationships can be very messy; sometimes people realise they like someone else while they're still in a relationship, or they figure out they still like an ex but the ex is in a new relationship. I definitely think Arthur could have treated Mikey with more kindness and respect, but he does realise this and apologise later on, and on the whole I just felt his actions were quite representative of how people often behave in real life.
While I liked how fresh the ending of What If It's Us was (because it wasn't your typical happy ending), I'd always hoped for a happily ever after for Ben and Arthur. And this book gives us just that. And then some.
I wasn't quite prepared for how intensely uplifting and soft the final few chapters of this novel were (was I on the verge of crying, yes, do I regret it? No.) but they were definitely my favourite parts of the book. (Yes, they're saccharinely sweet and yes I loved it.) There's a ~particular scene~ that made me GASP out loud with how heart-warming it was. I don't say this often, but I actually think this was the perfect ending for Ben and Arthur's story.
Content warnings for relationship break ups, financial problems.
4.5 stars
I discovered how much I enjoy second chance romances at the end of last year, so when I heard that Here's to Us was just that, a second-chance romance, I bumped it up my TBR.
I was expecting a sweet contemporary that would be an enjoyable read, but perhaps not a new favourite. Instead, I got a book that was fun, emotional, and brilliant, with just the right amount of drama and 'will they/won't they' moments.
The book picks up two years after the events of What If It's Us, with Ben in college trying to keep his writing dreams alive and Arthur returning to New York for an internship. Arthur has a boyfriend, Mikey, back at home and Ben is interested in Mario, a friend, who also seems to be interested in him.
But when the universe throws them a second chance, both begin to wonder if they called time on their relationship too early. As they begin to reconnect, Ben, Mario, Arthur, Dylan and Sam all start hanging out together and both Ben and Arthur begin to realise that they're not quite as over each other as they thought.
In this book, both Arthur and Ben are a little bit older and more mature and they're both considering what they want out of the next few years of their life. Ben is trying to decide if college is actually the right route for him and Arthur is thinking about what to do after his internship.
I've seen quite a few people saying that Here's to Us doesn't have much plot, but for me it was one of those books where lots of little things/events happen to give us a linear progression from point A to B. The group go for dinner, they go to the theatre, Arthur works at his internship, Ben works on his novel. We start at point A of them both being in New York and we get to point B which is the HEA we were rooting for.
Things start to get really interesting when Mikey travels to New York to visit Arthur, who then has to reevaluate what he wants in a relationship and if it's actually Mikey he wants to be with. It's messy and complicated, and there's a lot of back and forth (on Arthur's part) but I actually think it's quite realistic to real life.
Relationships can be very messy; sometimes people realise they like someone else while they're still in a relationship, or they figure out they still like an ex but the ex is in a new relationship. I definitely think Arthur could have treated Mikey with more kindness and respect, but he does realise this and apologise later on, and on the whole I just felt his actions were quite representative of how people often behave in real life.
While I liked how fresh the ending of What If It's Us was (because it wasn't your typical happy ending), I'd always hoped for a happily ever after for Ben and Arthur. And this book gives us just that. And then some.
I wasn't quite prepared for how intensely uplifting and soft the final few chapters of this novel were (was I on the verge of crying, yes, do I regret it? No.) but they were definitely my favourite parts of the book. (Yes, they're saccharinely sweet and yes I loved it.) There's a ~particular scene~ that made me GASP out loud with how heart-warming it was. I don't say this often, but I actually think this was the perfect ending for Ben and Arthur's story.
Content warnings for relationship break ups, financial problems.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity
rey_therese07's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Infidelity, Homophobia, and Alcohol
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