Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

70 reviews

detectivevaliant's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Girl, it would not have been different if he was with you...

I can't give it 1 star (completely) because I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. This essentially turns into a
cheating story
and I was already feeling pretty lukewarm about the romance so I couldn't root for the main couple after that.

These are the big spoilers, steer clear if you don't want to have the whole ending ruined:
I think Finny cheating on Sylvie with Autumn ruined it for me. So now I should have sympathy for Jamie and Sasha now that Autumn can relate? Sorry, no, Autumn and Finny were doing their little high school, dramatic pining for majority of the book and then the "romance" gets rushed toward the end, but it's a cheating romance that I can't get invested in. So when the reveal, which was obvious of course, that Finny was going to die...well it didn't emotionally impact me. Also, the ending was pretty lackluster as well. She's pregnant. She's keeping the baby. It all happens in very short, mundane chapters. Overall, the end felt very flat and rushed and it was not worth putting up with the juvenile writing style.
 

Here's the spoiler if you want to know if you should avoid it:
If you don't like to read
novels glamorizing infidelity
or can't stand high school, immature shenanigans, this is not for you.
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mozzabella8's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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kromeroparamo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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arireadsbooks425's review against another edition

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

0.25

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blue_feather15's review against another edition

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

3.0

I went into this book with pretty high expectations, and I was slightly disappointed. I still enjoyed it, and it was a good book, it just wasn’t an AMAZING book.

I would have liked the author to have gone into more detail, as I felt like I didn’t get to know the characters enough. There were also parts that were skipped over that really should have gone into more detail (eg:
Finn’s death/accident
)

Speaking of Finn’s death, I felt that chapter 1 kind of ruined the ending a little bit. I was happy they finally got together, but I knew he was going to die soon, so I didn’t get too attached, and therefore it wasn’t as gut wrenching as it should have been.

The suicide attempt really shocked me, but it does make sense since she had made a big deal about it with Jamie.

I want to get to know these characters on a deeper level, but I don’t feel like I got the opportunity to do that.
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brooke_w's review against another edition

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

3.5

Ending fell short. 
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brittinyh3711's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

The writing style wasn't particularly my favorite but I still couldn't stop reading. Cried a little at the very end. It's a very emotional ride
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stephberk15's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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pacccii's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 I really enjoyed this book.

It was an easy and nice read, wasn't overfilled with unnecessary filler and the pacing was good. Giving a good and clear picture of what is happening in our main character's life, and her inner most feelings. It felt very true and real to how a teenager would feel. 
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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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

3.75

After reading this one, I really wish I’d read it before If Only He had Told Me. As far as young adult novels go, I think they’d really connect to this material. I can see a lot of young people feeling some modicum of relief that they aren’t the only ones to (fill in the blank).
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