Not going to lie I initially requested this book because the cover reminded me of Taylor Swift (specifically All Too Well) so I am really glad that I also enjoy the book as well as the story.
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This story was such a powerful story encapturing grief on top of the everyday struggles of being a teenager. I absolutely loved Jake and Sarah I loved how they helped each other through their grief.

When I heard this book was compared to You've reached Sam. I knew I had to read it.
Sarah is in high school and grieving Alex s death. He was her boyfriend.

Jake was ALexs best friend and he is also mourning.

They learn to grieve and heal a bit and I resonate with the guilt of how feel good or happy when someone is no longer alive moments.

The book deals a lot with grief and how people do it differently.

The story touched me and I cried a few times.
There were lighter happier moments too.

Thank you herbal let the author and publisher

4****

Highly recommended

Been selling this one quite a bit

This book Is HEAVY on the grief and didn’t quite hold my attention. I never wanted to pick it back up, so ultimately I’m going to have to DNF.

I wanted to love this. But it all fell a bit flat and I was bored. I didn’t believe the love story at all. The characters were very immature (which makes sense) but it was still hard to read.

This book shows grief after losing a loved one. The feeling of guilt in grieving is touch upon carefully. I enjoyed the pace of this book as it was easy to read.

Stars
3.5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

As the description says, Sarah was dating Alex when he died. They hadn't been dating long, but she's grieving. Only she doesn't feel like she has the same right to grieve as others. His sister and her best friend, Ash, has been struggling. She has good days and bad, and Sarah wants to do everything she can to help Ash while also grieving herself. She doesn't go to their house much anymore, and she tiptoes around some things with Ash not to make her cry or break down. One of those things is Alex's best friend Jake. Ash doesn't blame Jake for the accident, but he is a constant reminder of her brother's death.

Jake is struggling also, but he's in therapy for witnessing his best friend's tragic death. He wants to reach out to Alex's girlfriend to ensure she's okay, but he doesn't know how it will be received. See Jake actually had a crush on Sarah first, but Alex is the one who ended up dating her. Sarah appreciates how she can talk about Alex with him in a way that she can't with his other friends or even Ash. They begin talking on the phone at night because they both have trouble sleeping.

Jake and Sarah have a slow-developing relationship. They start out as acquaintances and almost allies in their grief. They officially build to secret friends and even more. But the hiding and sneaking around threaten what they've built together. They have a story where they both have to work on themselves apart from their relationship. Yes, each character helps the other through their grief and struggles, but neither solves all the problems that the other faces.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are spoilers, so I'll have to leave them out. I did get frustrated with the characters at a time of two. I mean, they are teenagers, so poor decisions are bound to happen. But what I liked most of all was how realistic everything felt. Things that might have been dramatized weren't. Sarah is grieving, but thankfully, she wasn't in love with Alex or her grief would have been even worse. Jake was present, and the two had been drinking, but he's never villanized by their friends or especially Alex's family. Sarah occasionally lies to her mom. I like how her mom doesn't exactly let her off the hook for them even while feeling compassion for her. Yet, Sarah also doesn't like lying even when she does it, she feels really guilty. Not guilty enough not to but...believable. I can't say that I loved Mike and his marijuana usage, but I did like how he seemed to utterly adore Ash. I also liked how the relationship with Buzz played out.

A lot of jumbled ramblings all to say that Someone You Loved gets 4 Stars. Have you read Someone You Loved? What did you think? Let me know!

This was a sweet book that captured the grief of overcoming a friend's death realistically. The characters were well drawn, and I appreciated how the coffee shop itself -- and a piece of its furniture -- became a sort of character as well.

“I knew once I kissed you, I wouldn’t want to stop,”

𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿
does the cover not remind you of Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner, no?

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀
coping with loss
school
music
grief
love

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Its a but morbid but i really love books where someone has to cope with a loved ones death. what i hope for, is for my heart to be wrenched out, but that doesnt usually happen. i found this book dealt with loss well - how people carry on!

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
i loved them all, some characters had minor storylines but the main two , Jake and Sarah were interesting from the beginning!

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
i really loved how Jake was written, plus the whole concept of living with grief? i found it was written so well.

𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱?
I wish we had more chapters with Jake and Sarah, after the fact. I feel like it did drag a little towards the end and I wanted to get to them, but i still loved the ending!

𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲
"I was the last person he kissed"

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to DNF this book for now. It's been sitting in my TBR pile for many months now and it's never quite been able to grasp my attention. Plus, it deals heavily with grief and right now I would like to read something a bit more upbeat. I apologise. In the future, I will try to come back to this book to finish it.

A beautifully nuanced and well thought out plot, Someone You Loved has characters you immediately connect and root for, feeling what they feel and just wanting them to get everything they want in life.

When Alex dies in a 130 foot fall off a cliff in Someone You Loved, he leaves behind a grieving girlfriend Sarah, his sister Ashley, and his best friend Jake, who witnessed the accident. Sarah and Ashley are best friends. Two months before his death, Alex and Sarah's relationship evolves from friendship into a romance. Following the accident, Sarah is not only dealing with her own grief, but Ashley's as well. After running into each other at a cafe, Sarah and Jake begin nightly phone calls that soon become more than sharing their mutual grief. Jake, who constantly hears Alex's voice in his head, is wracked with survivor's guilt and the feeling that he is taking over Alex's former life. The only happiness he feels is when he talks to Sarah, which his therapist encourages. As they grow closer, they worry about what Alex would think and how Ashley will handle their relationship. Although they try to get involved with other people, finding solace in each other is something they desperately need.

This is a heartbreaking YA novel about grief and finding new love. I’ve never read anything like it before. I really enjoyed getting to know Jake and Sarah when they were leaning on each other a grieving. Then getting to know their feelings for each other. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

I can't imagine how it would be to deal with the grief of losing a boyfriend or best friend in high school. The characters are so relatable and imperfect. It's beautiful and refreshing to see. Everyone is so supportive of each other. The connection between Jake and Sarah is so pure and sweet. 10/10 would recommend this book.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Balzer + Bray for providing this ARC in echange for an honest review.

Broken hearted teenagers who find love!! Sarah loses her boyfriend to an accidental death and is trying to move on. Jake who loses his best friend falls for Sarah. This book dealt with dealin, moving on, how it can be hard to move on when both main characters have such a strong connection to Alex and how that relationship can feel taboo. A great story about finding peace.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.
It was a delight to read, it was such a beautiful story. The dual POV is a favourite of mine so I really loved reading from both perspectives. So many emotions and feelings in one book - will definitely recommend this book to others.

3.5 stars

3.5 stars

Thank you to Harper360YA for providing me a copy!

This is a heartbreaking story about grief and love after loss. And it war a really beautiful and important story, but it could’ve been much better. First, the characters were very young. Which, or course, makes the story even more sad, but also a bit unrealistic for me. The way these teenagers were talking and handling the situation felt as if they were at least 5 years older sometimes. And Sarah had only been together with Alex for a few months, but in the book it seemed as if they were together for years. Don’t get me wrong, also a few months is long enough to love someone, but it was just the way it was described sometimes.

That being said, the characters were loveable. Especially Jake. He lost his best friend, he was there when it happened and struggled with his feelings for Sarah a lot. He has had such a hard time and deserved so much love. Sarah was okay, not the most amazing character, but also not annoying or something.

I really liked that all sides of Alex’s life were talked about. So not only his relationship with Sarah, but also his friendship with Jake, the relationship with his sister, and even the relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

But overall it was a beautiful and heartbreaking story and I really think you should read it.

Loved the sound of the blurb and the cover is beautiful. For me the book started off well, but it didn't wow me.
I would recommend if you like books like this.

Rating 3.5

I really enjoyed the depth and the emotion portrayed in this book. I think the author tackles it quite well.
I really like Jake and found him to be a caring and emotive character who helped push the book along.

However, I found myself struggling a bit to connect with Sarah, though. And I found some of their decisions to be a little questionable.
Otherwise, it's quite enjoyable.

This was a sweet read that really conveyed the emotions that Sarah and Jake are feeling during their grief. I really enjoyed reading about how their relationship progressed from supporting each other through losing Alex to becoming friends and then becoming more. The development felt realistic and the mixed emotions about their feelings for each other helped to highlight how they were both confused and guilty after everything that happened with Alex, but also experiencing happy and curious about the new attraction.

I didn't really love the side characters, however, and wasn't really interested in any other aspect of the story. Ash was apparently Sarah's best friend but they both just seemed to hide things from each other so I didn't really feel that connection. I also felt like there were too many side characters and it got a bit difficult to keep track of who was who.

As a side note, I love that the characters on the cover look like Taylor Swift and Brendon Urie!