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A review by zaesbookshelf
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
- I understand why I saw this on a lot of “read this if you wanna feel emotions” tiktok recs, though I didn’t get quite attached enough to it to actually cry
- I called the ending 15% into it and found it pretty predictable in general
- I enjoyed the way of storytelling
- the actions/thoughts/dialogue felt very on par with high school aged people, but there was a thing or two that could be argued as teenagers thinking they’re invincible but really just felt like a super convenient plot device ( I’m sorry - you just watched one of your closest friends get pregnant after having unprotected sex their first time and then you have unprotected sex your first time?? Silly. )
- narration is a bit slow - I usually listen on a 1.25 speed, but spent most of this book on 1.5 or 1.75
- cliffhanger / unresolved ending
-overall, it was an easy book but I wasn’t in love with it.
- I called the ending 15% into it and found it pretty predictable in general
- I enjoyed the way of storytelling
- the actions/thoughts/dialogue felt very on par with high school aged people, but there was a thing or two that could be argued as teenagers thinking they’re invincible but really just felt like a super convenient plot device (
- narration is a bit slow - I usually listen on a 1.25 speed, but spent most of this book on 1.5 or 1.75
- cliffhanger / unresolved ending
-overall, it was an easy book but I wasn’t in love with it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt