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

emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m…not sure how I feel about this. I went in blind and did not realize how YA this was—it’s very YA. Teen angst, teen love, high school drama. So know that going in. 

I really feel for Autumn. There were many times I wished I was her big sister and could help her out. I definitely would’ve lovingly told her not to wear tiaras every day to high school, that’s for sure. 

I think a major fault with this book so that there was no suspense. Not that a YA romantic contemporary needs suspense, but the author sucked ALL of it away with the prologue spoiling the ending as well as the HEAVY handed foreshadowing. I felt like I always knew what was going to happen 100 pages before Autumn did. But again, I’m an adult. 

The ending felt really rushed and I should’ve been sad, but I wasn’t. I listened to this on audio and each chapter was literally like three minutes, so it was just BOOM BOOM BOOM. I didn’t like the open ending; I don’t think it worked in this case. Ugh. I don’t know. 

I’d maybe recommend this to a young teenager, but it’s not a YA I’d necessarily recommend an adult try. 
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