A review by hilary_h
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I heard SO MANY good things about this book on TikTok and when I realised that I actually own a copy, I immediately got to reading. I understand why pl give it 5 stars. It is absolutely heart wrenching towards the end. But the reason why I was on the verge of giving it a 4 stars was because it just wasn’t special to me. Yes a shed a tear or two and I’m probaly not qualified to be saying this criticism but I wasn’t the most unique book. I predicted the end from literally the very first page as I’m sure the majority of its readers did which is why it baffles me that it has a 5 star reputation. I guess you could say that the writting is very beautiful and yes. At times it is. But I just didn’t get that throughout the whole book, mostly just the end. When I read, I want the whole experience to be enticing and enjoyable instead of continuing to read so that I can get to the end that is apparently so sad (WHICH IT WAS DONT GET ME WRONG!). But anyway, I’m also very critical of books so I’m NOT not recommending this, because I’m sure you’ll thoroughly enjoy it like how all the people who recommend it to me did :)
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