Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - If He Had Been with Me

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

379 reviews

cmoulton09's review against another edition

1.5

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Complicated

Content Warnings

tspice24's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

oukomii's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Complicated

“𝚆𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝.” - 𝖠𝗎𝗍𝗎𝗆𝗇

“𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚗.” - 𝖥𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗒

“𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢.” - 𝖠𝗎𝗍𝗎𝗆𝗇

“𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝, 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝.” - 𝖥𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗒

𝙛𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: 4.5/5
★★★★☆ ½

[💔❤️]

𐙚 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕
The story begins with Phineas’ death. So, you can already prepare yourself for a tearjerker. This book is about Autumn and her childhood best friend, Phineas…better know as, Finny. Autumn and Finny were best friends since they were babies, basically. Their moms are even best friends, they grew up with each other, neighbors and all…spent every holiday together, birthdays, everything. That is until they drifted apart in middle school. The setting mostly takes place over the course of 4 years while they’re in high school — they’re no longer friends. Autumn is with Jamie, Finny is with Sylvie. They are in totally different worlds in their new friend groups. There is clearly tension and a whole bunch of unspoken feelings between Autumn and Finny. The story is told in the form of flashbacks, considering the story starts off with what happens at the end. You’re already going into the story knowing you’re going to experience one of the worst heartbreaks ever.

𐙚 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗 👑
This book quite literally pulled me out of a reading slump. I have not been able to complete a book since (almost) a year ago?? I couldn’t put this one down. A lot of the reviews will say it’s slow-paced, or boring. Well, yes and no! Slow-paced…but definitely not boring. There are scenes and interactions with Autumn and Finny, but it doesn’t get cutesy until after Autumn and Jamie break up…which is like 200+ pages into the story. (You guys have no idea how much I was rooting for a breakup between them. Jamie haters rise up!!!). Majority of the story is just Autumn battling her own feelings. Even though it takes a while to progress and get to that point, the story keeps you locked in…I didn’t get bored. The story did a good job on touching on the details of high school drama, depression, and friendships. It’s a nice coming-of-age story, aside from the love story.

I would rate IHHBWM a 5 star…IF it weren’t for the ending. They went from August 8th (when Finny died) and then suddenly we were in September..? I just really wish we could’ve gotten some details about how Autumn handled his death during that month, how his mom and friends took the news…I’m hoping I get more insight about it in the next book? Crossing my fingers!

Also for you guys in the reviews making fun of my whimsy, quirky, silly girl Autumn and her tiara…you just don’t get it!! You guys hate fun and whimsical girls🫩🫩

Content Warnings

gabbix2017's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

Content Warnings

leentje2009's review against another edition

4.0

emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

bloodgutsandapples's review against another edition

4.5

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book felt like Laura Nowlin had personally reached into my high school memories and plucked me out in place of Autumn. I am not here to dispute the negative reviews calling her annoying and cringey, it's just that I think that comes hand in hand with being a teenage girl.

Overall, I think this book would be perfect for girls 15-18 and it had some beautiful moments, they managed to make me route for the romance despite promising me it was doomed at the start.

Content Warnings