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jeanettesreadingcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If There’s No Tomorrow is an inspirational and hopeful story. The focus of Lena and her grief added so much depth. It made the story more realistic and raw with emotion. Best friends to lovers is my favorite trope, especially in YA books. Lena and Sebastian are so cute together! I’m so happy we got to see them as a couple towards the end. Lena loves to read and watches the History Channel so we’re basically the same person. I loved that about her because it was super relatable for me. I really enjoyed If There’s No Tomorrow, as well as The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Death, Grief, Alcohol, and Car accident
Moderate: Blood and Vomit
breedawnwriter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"I wanted to be back home where everything was normal and right. Where the world was still revolving and everything was fine. And alive."
I really enjoyed this book. It has some flaws, which we'll discuss in a moment, but it portrays grief in a way that resonated with me deeply.
What I Liked
- Lena's growth. Obviously character growth is important to any story. But stories that use grief as the primary way for a character to grow have my heart forever. Lena's just as messed up at the end of the story as she is at the beginning. But what changes is her priorities. She realizes what's important and what's not. She goes from caring solely about superficial things and ignoring what matters to caring deeply about those who are important to her and recognizing how precious every single moment is.
- The way grief is portrayed. I've read a fair amount of novels that feature grief, and this one did it really well. Lena's not done grieving at the end of the novel, and that's a realistic choice by the author. Grief is not a one-size-fits-all, and I appreciate that Armentrout portrayed the different ways that grief impacts people. Lena and her friends react very differently to grief, and that representation matters to me.
- The childhood-best-friends-to-lovers trope. This is by far my favorite trope, and it was executed beautifully.
What I Didn't Like
- Lena's lack of internal conflict and motivation. For the first third of the book, Lena doesn't really have anything driving her. She's in avoidance of most of her problems, which is important to know, but it doesn't really drive the story forward. I totally get why the author had to spend so much time showing us where Lena's at in the beginning, but it takes about 1/3 of the book to get to the inciting incident, which feels like a pretty big pacing problem to me.
- The sexual content. This isn't strictly a dislike for me, but it is flirting right on the edge of problematic for me (I don't like reading spice, so the sexual content was just barely within the bounds of what I personally am okay with). I wanted to point this out since I know a lot of my followers and friends also don't read spice, so just be aware that there are some sexual scenes with passionate kissing, touching, and sexual content in general.
Overall, this is a great book for people who like best-friends-to-lovers, stories that deal with grief, and beautifully executed themes.
I really enjoyed this book. It has some flaws, which we'll discuss in a moment, but it portrays grief in a way that resonated with me deeply.
What I Liked
- Lena's growth. Obviously character growth is important to any story. But stories that use grief as the primary way for a character to grow have my heart forever. Lena's just as messed up at the end of the story as she is at the beginning. But what changes is her priorities. She realizes what's important and what's not. She goes from caring solely about superficial things and ignoring what matters to caring deeply about those who are important to her and recognizing how precious every single moment is.
- The way grief is portrayed. I've read a fair amount of novels that feature grief, and this one did it really well. Lena's not done grieving at the end of the novel, and that's a realistic choice by the author. Grief is not a one-size-fits-all, and I appreciate that Armentrout portrayed the different ways that grief impacts people. Lena and her friends react very differently to grief, and that representation matters to me.
- The childhood-best-friends-to-lovers trope. This is by far my favorite trope, and it was executed beautifully.
What I Didn't Like
- Lena's lack of internal conflict and motivation. For the first third of the book, Lena doesn't really have anything driving her. She's in avoidance of most of her problems, which is important to know, but it doesn't really drive the story forward. I totally get why the author had to spend so much time showing us where Lena's at in the beginning, but it takes about 1/3 of the book to get to the inciting incident, which feels like a pretty big pacing problem to me.
- The sexual content. This isn't strictly a dislike for me, but it is flirting right on the edge of problematic for me (I don't like reading spice, so the sexual content was just barely within the bounds of what I personally am okay with). I wanted to point this out since I know a lot of my followers and friends also don't read spice, so just be aware that there are some sexual scenes with passionate kissing, touching, and sexual content in general.
Overall, this is a great book for people who like best-friends-to-lovers, stories that deal with grief, and beautifully executed themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
sophiji94's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Grief
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
If There’s No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout was easy to read. It was well-written and fast-paced while leaving just enough to be guessed at throughout to keep you going. I really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics, and I think, though this talks about difficult topics, it handles those in an age appropriate and understandable way. It shows a variety of ways people deal with hard situations and the importance of dynamic relationships. This journey of healing was digestible and believable throughout. If you are a fan of realistic fiction dealing with difficult topics such as grief, this would be a good fit!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death and Grief
jessy_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Can't believe that this is still how adults think that teenagers think.
Also, so many things that I hated:
- It was repeated many, many times that Lena reads. Okay, we get it, she reads. So do I.
- The attempt to be relatable. Some quotes were directly pulled off memes, and again, the reading that was supposed to make her relatable.
- The "I'm not like other girls" trope. Especially because Lena is like any other girl: she has a friend group and likes fashion and makeup and cares about her looks and is in love with a boy, and all she talks about is that boy. Reading is supposed to make her "not like other girls" but you're not fooling me.
- The poor character development. It was there, but it was forced; there wasn't anything that brought about the changes in Lena, except for the car accident. Her healing afterwards happened spontaneously - well, and with a little help from her one true love Sebastian. Love really can cure anything.
Also, so many things that I hated:
- It was repeated many, many times that Lena reads. Okay, we get it, she reads. So do I.
- The attempt to be relatable. Some quotes were directly pulled off memes, and again, the reading that was supposed to make her relatable.
- The "I'm not like other girls" trope. Especially because Lena is like any other girl: she has a friend group and likes fashion and makeup and cares about her looks and is in love with a boy, and all she talks about is that boy. Reading is supposed to make her "not like other girls" but you're not fooling me.
- The poor character development. It was there, but it was forced; there wasn't anything that brought about the changes in Lena, except for the car accident. Her healing afterwards happened spontaneously - well, and with a little help from her one true love Sebastian. Love really can cure anything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Grief, and Medical content
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