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

emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t love this book, but the overall experience was still enjoyable. The MC being a quirky, not-like-other-girls archetype was predictable and a bit annoying at times, though I could excuse it since there are many people like her in real life. But this paired with the fact that her love interest is the popular golden boy and her “enemies” are cheerleaders made me feel like the story was very unoriginal. While many sad things happen and we see characters feel strong emotions, I never got the impression that they experienced growth or maturation until maybe the last 10 chapters or so. And the ending is so…I’m not even sure how to describe it.

I think if the author wanted to include a pregnancy AND a suicide attempt, she should have made them more spaced out. Otherwise, one would have sufficed.
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