Content Note: Rape, domestic violence, drug use.

I think damaging would be a way to describe this book. Shocking considering the author is apparently a therapist.

We follow two troubled teenagers: Livvy and Jack. Jack is on probation following a stint in juvenile detention for assault and is connecting with a father who never knew he existed. Livvy is the girl next door whose parents have all but abandoned her all while she's dealing with abusive boyfriend Luke.

Honestly if I'm seeing domestic violence in teen novels I want it to be more of an instruction manual on how to get out safely unlike in this book where Livvy only escapes in the last couple of chapters thanks to a near-death experience.

The characters on the whole were not that likeable and I found Jay and John hard to distinguish and Livvy's friends were a waste of space. 2 stars only because I finished it. Also small niggle but the title makes no sense since there is not mention of the characters when they are older to be talking about 'When We Were Young'. Overall do not recommend.

When we were young ⭐️

At first I thought that this was just another chessy contemporary but within a character we see drama and unlying darkness and it pulled me into the story.
Livvy and David have known each other a long. Who neither of them know really well is Davids long lost son Jack. He is a delinquent and not the best of influences but David wants to build a relationship with his son and Livy wants to be a part of David life so you got to get along with Jack even if he has a demon hiding inside (but figuratively, not really).


Thank you so much to booksgosocial via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of When We were young by Anna Benoit. This will be released on May 30,2017.
All opinions are my own.

I had high hopes for this book, as the description intrigued me. However, I found myself getting disgusted while reading due to the sexual assault one character suffered at the hands of her boyfriend and then instantly forgave and apologized for saying "no" to him in the first place. There were other issues with this book, but that was the main one.

Well, this was surprise. I’m not sure where the title comes from, it doesn’t seem to fit the book but I can live with that. We follow a dual narrative from Jack and Livvy, neither of who were what I expected after reading a rather stereotypical first few chapters which was pleasing. Jack and Livvy both go through a lot of things which seem very extreme and may be upsetting at times. Interestingly this wasn’t particularly romanticised (certainly a good thing). A couple of others have said that it builds up to an end which is somewhat rushed and to some extent I agree. I’d probably like one more chapter from Livvy who didn’t seem to have her final say after such an important role in the novel. If you like teen angst this is certainly one for you. I have to say I was rooting for both of the characters. The adult characters were frustrating though I did appreciate David and the difficulties he faced in being able to help out and to some extent the sympthetic school counsellor., though I wonder if he could have done a bit more in the end.

Although some of the situations were unrealistic (who abandons their female teenager to stay with a male adult neighbor!!!), the characters were interesting and believable and the story moved at a good pace. Good effort for a debut novel.

Lizzy and Jack are neighbors. Each have their own friends and their own problems. Lizzy has parents that just basically abandon her and expect her to live with her neighbor as they travel the world. She stays with David, Jack's father in some nights, but on most nights she stays alone in her own house. Her boyfriend Luke is obsessive and abusive to her, both emotionally and physically. His latest abuse centers around sexual abuse. She withdraws and figures she can do nothing about it.

Jack is living with his father David. He didn't even know David was his father until recently. Jack is on probation because of his anger issues. When angry he is uncontrollable.
Jack and Lizzy find each other and first become friends and are able to confuse in each other. Friendship turns into love.

Luke does not want to lose his control over Lizzy and he shows up and tries to strangle Lizzy. Jack finds this situation and tears into Luke. This breaks his probation and he is sent to jail. Lizzy waits for Jack and they move to New York.

This book is good for older students. It was very good. It left me wondering about the next steps for Lizzy and Jack. Where will they go? What will happen with them? Will Jack be able to get control of his anger.

I liked this book since the issues covered in the story are happening to people out there. Some scenes may be disturbing for some, but that's what makes it seem real. I was frustrated with some of the characters attitudes, how they were blinded by people's cover-ups and only seeing what they wanted to see, believing what they wanted to believe. I liked how the characters realised the importance of sticking with the people who appreciates you no matter what.

I would like to thank NetGalley for a chance to review this great story.

When We Were Young is an excellent and gut smacking novel reaching deeply into teen angst, emotions, insecurities and problems. The two main characters Jack and Livvy both that have their senior year of high school filled with too many complications. For Jack, he has been thrown into a life with a father her never knew after a fight leads to probation and banishment from his home town. He is a seething ball of anger trying to cope as best he can with the limited tools he has. Livvy has absentee parents and a myriad of problems, not surface teenager problems but manipulating boyfriend boxing her in problems. She and Jack for a loose/tight bond threatened by the forces in their lives and constantly pushing and pulling them apart.

I read When We Were Young in two days. These days that's about as fast as I can do. The writing and characters hooked me early. I was invested and interested in what was going to happen. However, things went downhill quickly. Now don't get me wrong, I was devouring this book, but I was getting so stressed out by these characters.

Truly while I was reading When We Were Young I kept thinking there's no way this many awful things could happen to the same few people unless this was real life. And while at times it felt so far fetched, I need to do no more than scroll through my Facebook news feed to see that I probably know a few people who behave similarly or have been treated similarly. And truthfully that's really sad to me.

Livvy's parents are completely absent. Her friends are fake. Her boyfriend, Luke, is controlling. She doesn't have many people in her corner. Luke's level of manipulation was so crazy that I could see how Livvy would begin to question her own sanity and guilt. I was so frustrated with her for not standing her ground earlier in the book. She could have saved herself a lot of heartache and trauma. That being said their relationship was one of the most real things about this book. Again this is truly scary to know that there are people like Luke out there and that even sane people can find themselves under the thumb of someone like him. I guess there are parents as completely absent in real life as Livvy's are but man does that get my goat. Even if they were absent, what justifies their utter dismissal of their daughter's word for the word of her boyfriend with no proof or experience to back him up. One more point I want to make here but I'll save that for later.

Jack and Delia have an equally destructive and unhealthy relationship. She seems to enjoy being treated badly and was only really interested in Jack to begin with because of how "bad" he told her he was. His part in the relationship while disappointing was at least understandable given his mother's situation and how that back and forth behavior is all he's even known. Plus well he's a guy. And while that doesn't excuse his behavior, it also wasn't far from what I witness as a teenager watching guys behavior in high school. Jack let me down time and time again not seeing more of what was going on with Livvy and stepping in to help her sooner.

I'd like to say that I was disappointed that these two didn't do more self work before jumping into a relationship with each other, but again... real life. When things finally started going well I still felt unable to be excited for the characters because of the amount of drama surrounding them.

Sexual situations and language were both fairly graphic. Trigger warnings galore.

I've discussed how frequently the events of this book reminded me of real life, and then I read at the end of the book that Anne Benoit is a therapist. This makes the sheer amount of drama and horrible things happening make sense. I suppose none of the things in this book that felt too much or far fetched would feel that way coming from someone who has heard humanity's worst.

I will say, though, that the ending really did feel unrealistic to me. ***SPOILER: (highlight to see)I know that people go to jail who are innocent but it seemed to me that all that needed to be done to show who the real violent person was would have been for Livvy to show her text messages from Luke. ***END SPOILER

I can't remember the last time I felt so conflicted over a book rating. On the one hand, I read this book as quickly as I possibly could given the time I have to read. I was invested early on and dying to know how things would work out. And this book read so dramatic that it could only be inspired by real life. These things have me wanting to give 4 Stars. Yet my friend Lacy choosing her 4 Star rating based off whether she'd re-read the book or not. While that's never officially been how I rate books, whether or not I'd want to re-read a book is a great indication of how much I enjoyed it. (I don't see myself ever re-reading When We Were Young . I also don't know that I'd recommend this book to others which is another big indicator. It would take the right reader and the right circumstances.) Ultimately, I think 3.5 Stars is a fair rating. Have you read When We Were Young ? What did you think? Let me know!

*Side note: I hate when I finish a book and have no idea why it is titled.

When We Were Young by Anna Benoit was a very sad book that I did not enjoy at all. I love young adult books. I love to see the teens grow and struggle, and come out better for their experiences. This was not the case in this book. I did not finish this book, and do not recommend it.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I liked this book due to the fact that the issues covered in the story are happening to people out there. Some scenes may be disturbing for some, but that's what makes it seem real. I was frustrated with some of the characters attitudes, how they were blinded by people's cover-ups and only seeing what they wanted to see, believing what they wanted to believe. I liked how the characters realised the importance of sticking with the people who appreciates you no matter what.


Thank you for letting me give my review!

Great book. When We Were Young is about Jack and Livvy. Livvy is living with her next door neighbor David because her parents are always traveling. She’s a senior in high school and has a boyfriend Luke. Jack just got out of juvenile hall and is living with his father David he didn’t know he had until he was 12 yeas old. He’s a senior too. The book is about what teens go through in high school Both good and bad.

This books looks like a diary of a 12 years old . Livvy has no self esteem and expects people not to judge her.

TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE, RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE, ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES, Substance Abuse


I hated this book. I contemplated DNFing multiple times but decided to finish so I could include all trigger warnings and give a full list of the issues with this book.


This book was full of problematic elements.

•Cheating was a big aspect and I don’t enjoy reading about cheating.

•There is also an instalove type relationship between the main guy and a side character.

•There is a sexual assault scene between a couple in a relationship and I thought it was handled very poorly. The girl instantly forgave him and apologized for saying No in the first place.

•The sexual and emotional abuse continued throughout with no repercussions.

•The parents and friends of the girl were in no way understanding or supportive.

•The main male character was focused only on sex in his relationship and as soon as it ended was all of a sudden in love with the main female character.

•Anger management issues is another prominent part of this book.

•The substance abuse problems were now addressed

•The unhealthy relationships were allowed to flourish and do not have any repercussions

<I>I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for the intent of giving an honest review. </I>

A friends to lovers story which is not my favourite trope but this book made me fall in love with these complex and interesting for me this book was such a page turning as I could hardly put it down and I really want to read more from this author.

The pacing was really slow, until the rushed ending, and I think that’s because none of the characters really had a goal, and the entire book was drama between different types of relationships.

I couldn’t relate to our main character Livvy—at all—and I don’t know why David (her guardian, basically) or even Jack (the love interest) weren’t more on top of what her relationship with Luke (her current boyfriend) was doing to her. David was such a horrible person, but he was made out to be this great guy. The lack of decent adult characters was concerning, really. The only decent adult was the therapist—who was too perfect—which bothers me even more after reading that the author is a therapist.

I also thought the trial at the end was entirely unrealistic. After everything, there were more than enough witnesses on Livvy and Jack’s side—especially everything the therapist had learned. And all the texting conversations Livvy and Luke had been recorded. There would have been way more of an issue made out of what happened, and more of an investigation would have ensued. By the end, netiher Jack nor Livvy had really started dealing with all their issues, and I didn’t like how it was made out that everything was okay, now that they were together.

Overall I enjoyed this book, however I felt the pacing was a tad slow, and then you get hit with a rushed ending. There was too many characters to keep track of everyone easily. Things I liked about this book was that it DID tackle real world issues and you see just how people cope with them. Aside from the slow reading, the writing was really well done. It was very smooth and fluid. 

The plot itself kept me invested and I found myself wanting to know what would happen. While this was not a one click read, I still would recommend it. 4 stars from me.Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

Title: When We Were Young
Author: Anna Benoit
My Rating: 4 Stars

What it's about:
This comes straight from goodreads, because I could never sum up this story on my own: “Livvy and Jack are nothing alike. Livvy is the courteous, studious daughter of two jet-setting professors; Jack is an angry transplant with a criminal record. 

But Livvy’s life isn’t as easy as it seems. Unbeknownst to most, Livvy spends most of her time avoiding Luke—her overbearing, manipulative boyfriend of six years. Even though she knows she needs a change, she’s terrified to make it, so she resigns herself to a miserable senior year of high school. 

Jack is new to town. Originally from Philadelphia, he is ordered to live with his biological father, David, after committing a heinous crime. Having only met David a handful of times, Jack is furious about the move… until he meets Delia, a rebellious bombshell who instantly attracts him with her risky lifestyle. 

When David decides to take in Livvy after her parents surprise her with a permanent move, Jack is forced to befriend her. Quickly, the two discover they have more in common than they originally thought. 

As the year erupts with heartbreak and tragedy, Livvy and Jack must find a way to keep their delicate bond from being swept away into the turmoil.”

What I liked:

This story tackled so many issues. It wasn’t a feel good contemporary. It was real, hard hitting, dragging out emotions you didn’t know you had contemporary. There is so much going in this story, I felt it a little daunting in the beginning, but it was well worth it. I speed through once I got started, and found myself invested in the characters lives. It tackles tough issues, such as rape, drugs, violence, and bullying.

What I disliked:

I have 2 complaints about this book. One, there were so many characters to keep straight. So many. Two, the title: When We Were Young, gives the impression that maybe this story is being told by an older person, reminiscing on their life. I expected to see a glimpse of our characters far into the future at the end of the book. That doesn’t happen, and its a little misleading. Not enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the story, however.

Overview:

I was very surprised to find out that this was a self-published novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I can see so many more stories about the side characters being published. (I want to know more about Jack’s childhood adventures in foster care. I want to here more about Rob and time in and out of jail, and his dysfunctional family life.) I will definitely be reading more by this author.

I did not like this book because it was everywhere. The concepts were good but just not put together right. The ending was also off.

I went in to this thinking it was going to be a cute and fluffy contemporary. Sure there were some cute moments but this book ended up being much more serious. There was so much more meaning behind this book from depiction of mental illness to addiction. I think the book did a great job of showing the real world in some cases and how everything isn't always one big fairy tale.