What If It's Us
Ratings164
Average rating3.8
Just over it. It's a cute story but like every other YA Romance brings nothing new to the table and the characters are low key annoying.
This is the first book I read by A. Silvera, and the fourth book I read by B. Albertalli.
The novel is set in contemporary New York City and follows the story of Ben and Arthur, whose paths cross at a post office. Despite their initial encounter, neither introduces themselves by name. The boys are left pondering each other for weeks, captivated by the intense connection they experienced. One day, Arthur impulsively creates a flyer and posts it on a coffee shop bulletin board, the coffee shop that he had seen on Ben’s shirt the day they met. This physical poster and description of the day they met mirrors the concept of a Craigslist Missed Connection post, and leads to a summer of love and companionship.
I was looking for a similar quick queer romance after reading "Red, White, & Royal Blue" and I guess this sort of gave me that? But it was much more YA than anticipated, so the characters read extremely juvenile and underdeveloped. I almost canned it several times because of the inner monologues of the characters that just sound like 16-year-olds, because they ARE. But I pushed forward because it was so short. I think if I were twenty years younger, I'd like it, but it was just too immature for me, in the end.
I just adored this book. Though it is certainly YA and at times I was cringing at the more juvenile material, most of the time I was smiling ear to ear. It usually takes me months to find the time to read a full book but I devoured this within a week. The characters are so lovable and you find yourself rooting for them the entire way through. This book taught me a lot too. I'm excited to read the sequel.
Docked a star for employing the played-out miscommunication trope that could've been solved by people just talking to each other, but otherwise a great reading experience. Hit me in all the right places.
3.5 ??????
It was a bit too meandering for me, and I didn???t like all the cultural references (especially regarding real people). There were some cute moments but I think the first few chapters were the best. I lost interest during the last chapters. Most other books would have ended it sooner.
The audiobook narration was excellent though, so if you have the option, I???d recommend that as the best way to read.
why was that ending literally perfect i can't even live right now
LIKE IT WASNT CLICHE BY ANY MEANS BUT IT WAS PERFECT FOR THEM
it was so them.
This book was alright. I thought the original concept of two boys trying to find each other in New York seemed really cute. However, I disliked the rebound nature of the relationship, and the forced awkward start. I typically also dislike the concept of couples breaking up and getting back together, but here that maybe seemed to work. However the immaturity of the characters, with things such as trust and jealousy issues did give me the ick. Alternately this did build some foundations for character development. But even that was a bit rushed, and they changed almost overnight. I liked the ending, however that also felt rushed and lacking in emotional depth.
The main reason swaying me towards liking this book is I think the overall theme of the story is: love has many variations and there's many ways to make it work. I feel this is apparent not only for the Ben and Arthur but also within the parent's relationship, and the main characters friendships / connections with other side characters. I feel this is a good message to portray, and focusing on this message, the book seems to have a better purpose and stronger storyline.
Ameeeeei o livro! Personagens cativantes, história não foi previsível e a gente fica esperando ler a continuação!
The book was good. I was smiling most of the time. The friendship between some characters is amazing.
Me encanto. Es p r e c i o s o. La verdad que espero con ansias la supuesta secuela, pero no solo quede enamorada de los personajes sino que me parece que la forma en la que se desarrolla la historia es super original. Lo leería otra vez yA. Nuevo libro de romance favorito 10/10.
Un peu inégal, les évènements s'enchaînent un peu sans trop de vraisemblance, on aurait envie de donner sa chance à l'histoire mais quelque chose dans la façon d'écrire et dans le manque de crédibilité de ces enchaînements empêche de s'attacher aux protagonistes. La fin arrive tiède, et tombe à plat. Dommage.
just for the hoards of musical theatre references 5*
also a v good translation!
This was a very sweet and honest book that was just occasionally bogged down with too many pop culture references - and this is coming from someone who is a giant nerd - as well as a bit too much angsty teen angst for this curmudgeonly old gal. However, I do remember, in the cobwebbed corners of my mind, what it's like to be 16 and in love, so the manufactured ~drama~ rings true for that age. Plus, Ben and Arthur are very cute, and so are Dylan and Samantha, and I really liked the ending, so it's definitely worth checking out. 3 Dear Evan Hansen references out of 5.
Highly adorable first-teen-romance story. It accurately captures all the fizzy stomach feels and the desperate/manic need to be around each other. It's fantastical and overly-romantical in a rom-com too-much way. Both voices were done by teen actors that were excellent and believable.
I had been feeling a bit meh through the first half but the last 50 pages got me with the feels.
I know I'm being a little tough on this book. It's not a bad book, it's fine; pleasant to read, and fairly well plotted. But I'm going to use this book to open a question that I have been thinking about when I read gay YA romances: what is their purpose?
OK, that's a little disingenuous. There's a part of their purpose that I know extremely well, and I know it because of it's absence during my childhood and adolescence. Sometimes my head swims when I think about what that time would have been like if there were stories like this available to me in libraries, and not just the one scary “issue” book about being young and gay. Instead, I had to gather bits and pieces of interior experiences from other kinds of stories, like a crow gathering bits of tinsel and shattered glass. Family alienation and distrust from Sharon Creech's The Wanderer and Edward Bloor's Crusader. How to let crushes smoulder from Katherine Paterson's Jacob Have I Loved and Carol Fenner's Yolanda's Genius. And for how to get close to others when what is inside you is so big and what we show to each other can be so small, I loved E.L. Konigsburg's The View From Saturday.
Here I am, getting lost in memories of my own identity formation.
S0 let's get to my real question: are LGBT YA romances just low-fat, low-cal romances, with younger protagonists and a less steamy helping of sex? Or is there still some part of YA literature that is didactic, helping young people with these kind of stories in their own life to navigate their way through?
I don't miss the didactic-only era of children's literature, which seemed to go away in the 70's and 80's in favor of a more interior-experience focused way of telling stories (except for maybe utility picture books and books for therapists and religious books). Those weren't very fun, and once the cultural morés that produced them went away, there was not very much charm in them either.
But I'm also left a little unsatisfied by What If It's Us. There's so much going on! One narrator's parents are in a strained marriage, is away from his friends. The other is struggling with school. They are both navigating having sex for the first time. One of them is obsessed with Broadway musicals, particularly Hamilton. And yet we don't really get to see how all of these factors affect them on the inside. How does one boy's parent's fighting affect how comfortable he is experimenting sexually? We don't know, because these parts of the story are siloed off from each other. Why does he like Hamilton? We don't know, and so although we know a lot about his preferences, we don't get the chance to have those preferences illuminate what is inside him.
Maybe the representation is enough. It certainly would have meant a lot to me. But I can't help but thinking that when stories are told all on the outside and we don't see enough of the inside, our noses pressed up to the glass of a room we can't enter, we might end up thinking that the only thing that matters is outside too.
3.5 Stars
Initial Thoughts: I was really enjoying this book until I got to the end. It fell completely flat for me and seemed out of character for everyone. I expected so much more than what I was left with.
One other comment, the pop culture references were often super on point and entertaining, but I also feel like they were forced and excessive throughout the entire book. Especially if you are not a huge Harry Potter fan, which I luckily am, but I feel that others would not get half the references and also dislike how many there are.