Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - If He Had Been with Me

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 especially

multiple 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.

Content Warnings

dianazheng's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

idk i’m just so annoyed with autumn

Content Warnings

brooklyndays's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

sonotmimiiii_12's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Content Warnings

jimothyj's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Content Warnings

kyrakorres's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

so honestly, at first it was hard for me to get into this book because the writing was kind of all over the place, but as it went on, I actually really liked it because it really felt like it was a teenage girls mind going through high school. this might be an unpopular opinion, but I personally love when an author can write characters that are not the most likable. At some point, I did find autumn really annoying but overall I thought it was a great storyline and I really liked certain elements of friendship and family and stuff like that but I just wish the writing was a little better.

Content Warnings

emdeannah's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-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

5.0

Content Warnings

cats_n_plants_n_cats_n_plants's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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