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A review by joelles_bookshelf
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I will fully say that this novel wasn't for me. I wanted to like it because I saw the books in my local bookstore and wanted to know more about them, so I thought I'd give the audiobook a listen before committing to the physical copy.
I am so glad I did this because the writing style felt so stilted, even though I had the audiobook. It was simple. Autumn would wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to school. See her friends. Come home. Eat. Sleep. And that was it for the entire book.
I understand that Autumn is a teenager, and she can be juvenile, but her entire personality made me want to groan. She's beautiful and has been told that her entire life to the point she doesn't believe it BUT then still says that she knows she's prettier than her best friend? I lowkey celebratedwhen her creepy boyfriend Jaime ended up sleeping with her best friend instead . Autumn even acknowledges that she was fighting for Jaime's attention before they got together and was so smug that she was dating him.
The serious topics could've been fleshed out a little more?I feel that one of Autumn's friends falling pregnant isn't something that we can just...gloss over? Her depression and her mom being suicidal feel like they exist but then they're gone.
And Autumn was of course, heartbroken over this happening and thinks she's the better persononly to go around and do the EXACT same thing with Finney while he's still dating Sylvie? And then she has the audacity to say how she 'understands' how it all happened with Jaime and her friend because they couldn't stop? She was just infuriating as a character.
I knew Finney was going to die based off how the book started but it still somewhat shocked me when I read it. I knew it all lead up to that and it's probably that moment that makes so many people relate because losing a loved one is hard. Autumn tries taking her life but realizes she's pregnant and it feels like she's stuck in this cycle of depression and grief because her life revolved around Finney for so long.
This book was just not for me, but I am happy I got the opportunity to read it.
I am so glad I did this because the writing style felt so stilted, even though I had the audiobook. It was simple. Autumn would wake up. Eat breakfast. Go to school. See her friends. Come home. Eat. Sleep. And that was it for the entire book.
I understand that Autumn is a teenager, and she can be juvenile, but her entire personality made me want to groan. She's beautiful and has been told that her entire life to the point she doesn't believe it BUT then still says that she knows she's prettier than her best friend? I lowkey celebrated
The serious topics could've been fleshed out a little more?
And Autumn was of course, heartbroken over this happening and thinks she's the better person
This book was just not for me, but I am happy I got the opportunity to read it.
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt