Overall I'd say this was a really cute story. I didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to for some reason but I definitely squealed at some bits and was satisfied with the realistic ending. I love the contrast between Ben and Arthur's personalities and their relationship in general because I applaud them for actually trying hard to make it work instead of just giving up. The plot did seem a bit too unrealistic for my liking as a contemporary at some parts so I wouldn't go as far as saying I loved it but I liked the important messages it sent across ~ 3.5/5 stars.

I love Becky Albertalli's books but have never seemed to get into Adam Silvera books but I finally did! This writing duo created such a beautiful meet cute (or disaster) love story. It also has own voices LGBT rep which is always amazing.

2.5 stars

I've been both excited for this book ever since it was first announced and dreading it. I like Adam Silvera's novels but I have a love/hate relationship with Becky Albertalli's; so put the two author's together, and I didn't really know what to expect. But, as it turns out and as is usual for a Becky Albertalli novel, there is no plot. Like, at all. Aside from the romance, and a romance isn't enough of a plot.

I quite liked Arthur as a character. He was quite sweet and he made me laugh a lot. Ben, on the other hand ... I did not like. He doesn't treat Arthur with respect at all - he constantly talks about Arthur's faults (he's too short, he talks too much, he's bad at games, etc). And for a book where the plot is just romance, having one of the characters continually hate on the other for a large majority of the book probably isn't a great idea.

It just didn't seem like they liked each other? For a book about destiny and being in the right place at the right time, I never really cared about Arthur and Ben being together. They do eventually reach a point where they fall for one another, but it comes very late in the book and by that point, I'm pretty much over it. To complain a little bit more before I get onto the good bits, I get that teens are part of a lot of fandoms and always make little jokes about Hamilton and Harry Potter and whatnot, but this book took it too far, to the point of over saturation. Also, I don't know how many times I have to say this, but teens no longer really care about Harry Potter. That's something for the lower end of the millennial generation -- NOT gen z. I have a brother in generation Z and he doesn't care one bit about Harry Potter. Please, authors, move on from Harry Potter, talk to teens and find out what they actually care about.

So the good parts;
I loved the representation and I expected nothing less from Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. Arthur is gay and Jewish and has ADHD, and Ben is gay and Puerto Rican. I also loved Arthur's father who is very loving and open, and supports his son so much. I also liked Ben's friend Dylan, who is super cute and awkward.

All in all, I was probably disappointed in What If It's Us. Even though my expectations weren't super high, I was expecting better and I think this contributed to my feelings of the book. The book had some redeeming qualities but I couldn't move past the lack of chemistry between the characters and the fact that there was no plot whatsoever.

OMG GUYS YOU ALL NEED TO READ THIS BOOK AS SOON AS IT COMES OUT!!!!

(Seriously, get keen. Your lives are about to be blessed.)

Being approved for an ARC of this was one of the greatest things that has happened to me this year, this is it guys. I have reached the pinnacle of my reading career!!

But seriously. This book is really good.

Also, cover is adorable!!!

And the humour is spot on, some bits are just so funny I can't even!!

Ben and Arthur are such cinnamon rolls omg I love them so much!

And the meet-cute honestly made my life!!

I don't even know what I can say about this book. Just pre-order it, go read it, and improve your life by at least twelve times.

But the ending tho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(GUYS, get keen!)

Also, brace your hearts!!

I loved the characters in this book. They are funny, lovable and endearing. As they navigate their way through a new relationship you are constantly hoping that they can get their act together and that the universe is on their side and love will ultimately prevail. The authors have done an amazing and seamless job on collaborating on this novel.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for supplying the e-arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this was the ultimate contemporary for 2018. Ever since this was announced people have been going nuts and now I get why. This was co-written by Adam Silvera, the guy guaranteed to make you cry & Becky Albertalli, the gal guaranteed to make you smile.

I’m going to be honest here, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read (and enjoy) this one, and as soon as I requested it on Netgalley earlier this year I completely regretted it. So, imagine my surprise when I actually enjoyed the book!

“I believe in love at first sight. Fate, the universe, all of it. But not how you’re thinking. I don’t mean it in the our souls were split and you’re my other half forever and ever sort of way. I just think you’re meant to meet some people. I think the universe nudges them into your path.”
Rep:

Arthur: Jewish, ADHD, Gay
Ben: Puerto-Rican, Gay
#Ownvoices Rep – Jewish (Becky), Puerto-Rican & Gay (Adam)

This book was so much fun! I definitely had my issues with it, and I’ll get into that later, but for the most part, I really enjoyed it! I found the characters, particularly Arthur to be really relatable – in that they’re quite mature but also act their age. They’re smart in their actions, they think about what they’re going to do before they do it, but they also act their age and react in a way that a 17-year-old would. Arthur and Ben are also quite emotional which I appreciated – because the way they reacted to situations really made sense to me, but unfortunately, in most media, boys/males rarely show varied emotions.

I wrote this above in my rep section, but a bunch of the rep in this book is #ownvoices so if you’re looking for authentic gay, Puerto-Rican &/or Jewish representation, this is a great book for you to pick up!

CUTE AF, BUT IT FLOWS TOO WELL?

This is a non-spoiler review so I want to keep it sweet and simple, so here it is: What If It’s Us is cute af. The characters are relatable, the romance is adorable & it’s such a pleasure to read!

The writing flows really well, but actually, that’s one of my main criticisms with the book – the writing flows too well. Unless Arthur was getting really hyper and talking about Hamilton I usually couldn’t tell his pov apart from Ben’s which got pretty frustrating purely because I had to be constantly swiping back to the start of the chapter to see who’s pov I was reading from.

Also, just a side note: This book deals with a lot of more mature subjects like alcohol & sex, as well as what it feels like when you’re so close to going into Uni/College as the MCs are both 17 by the end of the book.

Also also, just a side note: If you haven’t listened to Hamilton or Dear Evan Hansen before reading this, you probably should. Both musicals are a big part of the story and the characters so there are a lot of references (the same goes for Harry Potter) to the songs and the stories. I learnt this the hard way, having never listened to Dear Evan Hansen before – well, jokes on me because that’s where the authors got the title from.

“Box boy dates guys. I’M A GUY.”

Okay, so here we get to the part of the review where I talk about y issues with the book, and why I ended up only giving What If Its Us a 4 stars and not the 5 I could have done.

When I started reading this I really had no clue what it was about, other than it involved a Post Office & a break-up box. So, until the main characters actually met, I was loving it – I thought the characters were really interesting and I was really enjoying reading from their perspectives. And I’m talking laughing out loud on the bus kind of enjoyment, which is a total departure from the usual resting b*tch face I exhibit. I found them to be really dorky and much like my inner self so I was thinking I had finally found a contemporary I could see myself actually wanting to purchase and re-read for years to come – a feat no other contemporary has managed since I read Simon Vs. back in 2016.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the case – while, I can definitely see myself wanting a copy of this to tab up and highlight the hell out of in future, I don’t know if I will give it an annual re-read like I do with Simon. And, this is all down to one thing, really.

The first 30ish% of What If It’s Us revolves around the two main characters trying to find each other after failing to get the other’s number after their meet-cute at the post office. So, to cut to the chase, I fund this book creepy. *runs to the corner* *sorry*

The first 30% of this book revolved around the two love interests trying to find each other online and it really rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t want to spoil anyone, but the way they used and abused social media to find the other character was disturbing. Somehow, and in a totally realistic and creep way, one character, let’s call him boy 1, was able to get enough information out of a 5-minute conversation with a total stranger (aka. boy 2) that he was able to track down someone in boy 2’s life on Instagram and then find boy 2 irl. It honestly just freaked me out and turned me off the book in the beginning – and then as the story progressed I thought maybe it would be a commentary on the dangers of social media. But, no it was just a quirky cute thing that boy 1 did and everyone sees as a huge romantic gesture while I, a mainly sane person would be running for the hills while also calling the police.

“And I let Jonathon Groff drown them out. Because that’s what cute boys are for.“
Overall, this was a cute read with a fantastic ending and maybe I’ll re-read it again after I’ve actually listened to Dear Evan Hansen but it also isn’t perfect. I feel like this could’ve been a really good commentary on the dangers of social media & there could have been more conversation about privacy but it was never really brought up after the fact.

Either way, this is a great read for a readathon, maybe the next round of Contemporaryathon? This is also a really diverse read, in that there is rep for ADHD (he takes rescripted meds which helps in school), Jewish rep, Puerto-Rican & gay rep which I really enjoyed each as part of the story.

Also, and this is minor on the rep scale,, but there is a recurring Biromantic Asexual character and that honestly made my day when I saw it on the page.

TW: Cheating, Homophobia, Racism, Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Alcohol, Hospitalisation

This book is so good the movie rights have already been acquired.

Fair warning, a lot of my thoughts on this book are just crying queerly. I have a lot of feelings about What If It’s Us, the gay meet-cute story we never knew we needed.

What If It’s Us begins outside a post office in New York, where Arthur - nervous, Jewish, intern at his mum’s law office - is on his way to pick up coffee for the real lawyers. Arthur, who I’m not sure if I was friends with in high school or if I was in high school, impulsively ducks into the post office when he encounters Ben.

Ben - awkward, Puerto Rican, in summer school because ADHD + hot boys = no studying - is trying to mail a box of things back to his ex so he can avoid ever having to deal with that whole mess, which is also intensely relatable.

They meet, they cute, but then they separate without learning each other’s names or phone numbers, and even though I knew from the blurb they would find each other I died inside. This turned out to be common throughout this book.

There are a lot of good morals about having healthy (and unhealthy) relationships here, woven in with the story of two strangers trying to get to know each other and themselves. There’s a lot of honest portrayal of how it feels to be LGBT(QIA) and trying to live your life, perpetually slightly worried that someone will somehow sense your queerness and attack you for it.

I have read literally all of Becky Albertalli’s books so it’s no surprise that I fell right into the writing style, which although I sometimes laugh at the sheer density of pop culture references, is as familiar as my tumblr dash. I have not read any of Adam Silvera’s books, but I think now I’m going to have to fix that.

Finally, and totally self-indulgently, I need you all to know that at one point in the book one of the side characters idly tells Arthur that she identifies with the SAME LABELS AS ME. THAT’S ME, YOU GUYS. I CRIED. I’M CRYING AGAIN NOW TELLING YOU. NEVER LET ANYONE TELL YOU REPRESENTATION ISN’T IMPORTANT.

I went into What If It's Us willing to be impressed. I knew both the authors had excellent reputations, and I'd enjoyed the film Love, Simon. Unfortunately, despite this open attitude, What If It's Us fell a little flat for me. I'm trying to think how to describe it, and I guess it boils down to the fact that it was a mix of too much and not enough. I enjoyed the pop references; however, they went over the top at times. The story was cute, but after 400 pages that level of cuteness began to grate. Also, everything happened too fast. The relationship between Ben and Arthur was instalove, and progressed at a pretty unimaginable rate, even though it was clear to me early on that they weren't exactly a match made in heaven. I certainly didn't hate this book, and I found it generally entertaining, but it always felt like there was something missing. It lacked any real substance. That said, kudos to the authors for great diversity, wonderful LGBT-positive character portrayals and showing a good attitude towards safe sex and mutual respect. I'm sure there are plenty of readers who will adore this story, but personally I would have liked less cuteness and more depth. So many times I rolled my eyes, wanting to knock some sense into the two boys. Also, as a side note, the title is really bugging me. Maybe it's just because I'm an editor, but every time I look at the cover, I grimace. The title is clearly a question, so where is the question mark? Punctuation gripes aside, I am rating this book 3.5 stars. It has some good things going for it, but it simply didn't quite hit the mark for me.

I absolutely loved everything about this book! I never wanted this book to finish! This book had me smiling like an absolute goofball and also trying not to cry on public transport as well. It was just cuteness overload.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review

I loved the dynamics between Arthur and Ben so much. I loved how different they were to each other, but how great they were for each other. I'm not normally someone who enjoys the insta love trope, but I enjoyed it and it worked well for me. I loved the boys having to fight the universe for them to happen and work. I enjoyed that although this book is somewhat a light read, it also does tackle the harder hitting topics that are relevant in this day in age.

Yes this book is full of pop culture and theatre references, which as someone who enjoys it, I loved all of the references, but I do understand if these references are overdone for some.

The ending was probably my only issue with the book as it fell kind of flat for me in comparison to the rest of the book. However, it didn't take anything away from the rest of the book for me.

I can't wait to get my hands on a hard copy as soon as it's released!

Oh my - I am in love with this story and these two boys! I loved the premise of two strangers meeting randomly and then somehow and someway meeting up again and the way this story was told just flowed. I also loved both Arthur and Ben equally - whenever I was reading Arthur's chapter I was thinking I loved him more but then when I was reading Ben's chapter...well I loved him more! (And don't get me started on the awesome BFF Dylan - he was a shining star).
I found both Arthur and Ben authentic characters, they made me laugh and cry and also swoon. I probably would have liked the ending to be a bit more concrete - but I guess it leaves it wide open for a second book!
Thanks to Simon & Schuster (Australia) for my copy via Netgalley.

I fell in love.

The characters were all so great, especially Arthur who was so relatable to me because of his love for musicals and HAMILTON!!! The amount of Hamilton references in this book was insane and it made me so happy! If you love Hamilton, just read it, you won't be disappointed.

The general story flowed nicely, it started with a meet cute in New York between the two main characters Arthur and Ben and, without going into too much detail, they get split up without having each other's contact details. Obviously there wouldn't be a story if they weren't reunited, so *spoiler alert* they find each other again and the story goes on from there.

I loved all the different little friend groups they both had. I feel like a big focus of the story as a whole was the friendships. Dylan was one of my favourite characters, and I loved his friendship with Ben.

To wrap this up, if you love cute contemporary romances, gay main characters, New York, musicals (especially Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen), Harry Potter, the Sims, Instagram, summer school, coffee, cookies and epic collaborations from amazing authors, then you need to read this book now.

Netflix, please turn this into a movie?

I was so excited when I saw this come across on my NetGalley - a cute LGBT book by two of my favourite authors!

This is a super adorable book about a boy who meet-cutes another boy by following him awkwardly into a post office. Both boys are instantly drawn to each other, but both leave without so much as knowing a name - the hunt begins.

Becky Albertalli's cliches shine through very strong in this novel - right down to the Elliott Smith references which I found super off-putting, you don't need to mention the guy in every book you write, surely you like another artist?

Adam Silvera's signature emotional heartbreak doesn't have as much punch here - I'm quite disappointed that I didn't feel a connection to either of the characters and ended up   quickly skimming through the last pages of the book just to get it over with (don't even talk to me about the ending).

I expected big things from this book due to the reputation of both author's but it left me feeling apathetic, but I'm sure there are many people who will feel quite differently as the relationship between the characters is pretty cute, even if it does take a bit to develop.

Rating: 3.5/5

You can see the Netflix series playing out in your mind as you read this rather lovely book.

Arthur is working for his mum in her law office in New York, the family have moved there for the summer and Arthur has an internship doing the filing. He has cool gossipy workmates who are incredibly entertaining, they look out for him and make the job interesting and fun.

Ben is stuck in summer school, not his ideal way to spend the summer. He has broken up with his boyfriend, it is hard, he is a bit broken. Worse the ex is also attending summer school so he has to see him all the time and that is sad and hard.

Arthur meets Ben at the Post Office in the midst of a flash mob, it is the cutest thing. Love at first sight but then they spend the next while trying to find each other. They don’t have many clues, but this is love, they need to find each other. So investigations take place, they get everyone involved in the search and of course, when all seems lost they find each other. Ohhhh my poor wee heart just went all gooey! Now we have them working through all the stuff of the past, thinking about the future and dealing with life as it plays out for them. This is the summer of dreams but sometimes it is the summer of angst. There are heaps of lovely references to gay culture, musicals, coffee shops that are amazing – though I’ve had plenty of coffee in New York and I’m skeptical about these – this is a New York story with a thoroughly New York state of mind.

I feel a bit bad for the 3 stars, it is really a firm 3.5. I felt that it was just a bit wordy. It took a tiny bit too long for things to happen and while the chat in the book is so brilliant and witty and on point, there is just too much of it. The cuteness is just so lovely, the banter excellent, the families of the boys are so nice, so accepting of their interesting and complicated gay kids. I loved it when the two families had dinner together. Seriously, this is so nice! Like a romantic froth of powder blue tulle! Like puppies and kittens. Like my dog on Insta! It just needed a bit of substance.

I think this will be a huge hit. And I’m so pleased that books like this are becoming mainstream. Here are the authors talking about it.

Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli are two of my favourite writers. I don't read the blurbs when I see a new book by either of them; just pick it up. So when NetGalley offered me the chance to read this one in advance, I leaped at the chance. Thanks NetGalley!

It's a dual POV book about two guys, Ben and Arthur, who meet by accident at the post office. Arthur is only in New York for the summer, and Ben lives there year round. Arthur adores Broadway shows and believes in love even if he's never been in it. Ben is more cynical, having just broken up with his first boyfriend. Which was the reason he was in the post office to begin with - he was trying to return his ex's stuff.

The book follows Ben and Arthur through the rest of the summer as they meet, part, reunite and try again and again to make their first date perfect. Then a second. They are quite different people and even though they really like one another, their differences start to grate on each other. Ben is always late, which irritates Arthur. Arthur doesn't like arcade games which Ben loves. Ben is in summer school while Arthur has been accpted at Yale.

While the pair struggle to figure out how to make their lives fit together despite their differences, both boys start to wonder if maybe the universe doesn't mean for them to be togther.

But maybe it does...

I really enjoyed this book. The meet-cute was adorable, and everything that came after was too. I found myself reading with a grin on my face most of the way through. Arthur and Ben are great characters and the supporting ones, especially Ben's bestie Dylan, are pitch perfect.

If I had one quibble, it would be that it was hard to distinguish the two different voices. Even though this book was written by two authors and I imagine each wrote one POV, both boys sounded very similar, despite being distinctly different characters. When I put the book down and came back to it, I often had to check to see whose POV I was in because it wasn't immediately apparent until one boy referenced another by name.

But overall, I loved this book. Even the ending which I won't give away here. Sometimes an ending can be happy even when it isn't the ending you expect. This one felt very realistic which was refreshing in a romance.

So, I definitely recommend this one.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

What If It’s Us is a cute co-written novel from Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. I’ve read and loved most of Adam’s previous novels, and I also enjoyed Simon vs.the Homo Sapiens Agenda from Becky. Going into this I did not know who wrote each perspective, though I have my suspicions now after finishing. The characters personalities were generally distinct enough for me to tell them apart, and the writing style wasn’t different enough for it to be jarring. I’m impressed with how well their writing styles blended together. Usually I am hesitant to read multi-perspective books since I end up waiting to get back to my favourite character’s point of view. This wasn’t the case with What If It’s Us. Each character had interesting relationships with their friend groups. I had a lot of run reading about their interactions and daily lives outside of the relationship.

The pop culture references were fun (I think I understood most of them too!). I haven’t listened to Hamilton yet and Arthur’s love of it made me want to do so immediately. I almost stopped reading the book to go listen to the soundtrack but I couldn’t bring myself to put it down for long enough.

I had a few issues with the formatting, which I am assuming was an issue with my kindle copy rather than something intentional. However, there were some scenes where there weren’t enough dialogue tags and I found myself losing track of who was actually speaking. I’m hoping this is something that is not an issue in the final copy.

Overall, I found this a really feel-good book. For the first half I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. The second half of the book definitely had its great moments too but the strength of the book was in the meet-cute and the tension when I was wondering how they would reunite after the initial post office encounter. The ending fell a bit flat for me and it’s another case where I think I might have been better not reading the epilogue at all.

"I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review"

I really enjoyed this book and finished it in a day. It was cute and kind of what I expected after reading Becky Albertalli. Arthur and Ben were both well written, and I felt like they were easy to relate to. At times I felt the dialogue was a little cheesy, especially towards the end, but overall, I really enjoyed reading What If It's Us.

Love these authors? Then you’ll love this book. I continue to enjoy the more diverse range of contemporary YA that is being published. Silvera and Albertalli deliver authentic characters and an engaging plot. Probably my favourite ending from a YA romance in the past couple of years.

While I loved that the intertextual references made it feel like the characters were part of our world (and I related heavily to pretty much all of them), they did feel a bit overdone. Sometimes it felt a bit like ‘how do you do fellow youths’. They’re all things that I’m a fan of, so it’s hard to say they bothered me...it’s more like they took me out of the story too often.

My only other gripe is that the authors writing styles are very similar - and while that works overall, sometimes you’re in the middle of a chapter thinking ‘who’s narrating this again?’. I read this as an ebook, so I hope they set the two different POVs in different fonts or something in the print version.

Seriously, if you like diverse contemporary YA, then this is a no brainer. It’s very much a product of that genre, and it’s a fun, light read. Thanks again to netgalley and the publishers for providing me a copy to review!

*Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*Becky Albertalli, who brought us 'Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens' is back and has teamed up with Silvera to bring the world another wonderful YA novel. As with a number of other offerings from Albertalli, 'What If It Is Us' focusses on the love lives of star-crossed adolescents. Who just happen to be gay. What I love about these books is how they normalise gay characters, but at the same time, do not shy away from tough topics. For example, in 'What If It's Us', the protagonists, Arthur and Ben are confronted by an angry homophobic man when trying to take the subway home. The book focussed on two teenage boys, Arthur and Ben and their unlikely summer romance. A chance meeting at the post office has unseen consequences and leads to a wonderful story. Here's hoping there is a sequel coming.

Arthur is in New York for the summer doing an internship. Ben is in tatters following the breakup with his boyfriend. When the two cross paths at the post office, their lives will be changed for ever.

From the moment I picked this book up I was hooked. Ben and Arthur cross paths when Ben is trying to post a box of his exes stuff back to him. When Arthur discovers that Ben also likes boys, his world changes. But what does he do? Forgets to get his number. What follows is a beautiful romantic gesture to get the two back together. It is the thing of movies, the dream! When they finally meet again, they have a rocky start but quickly find their feet.

Despite absolutely loving the book, the ending really let it down. When Arthur goes back home, he and Ben are still so in love. Ben organised a big romantic gesture to enjoy their last day today. But the epilogue? They’re mutual “best friends”, Arthur has hooked up with other people and the two seemed to have made no effort to see each other. If they are both so in love and have both gone to big efforts to show it, why did they not make the effort afterwards? They clearly still love each other....they never “broke up” with each other, so why are they suddenly just best friends. Was a bit let down at the end to be honest and it left me a bit angry....I JUST LOVE LOVE OK!

What an absolutely charming read. I came into this book with the expectation that I was going to love it and I wasn't disappointed. Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera perfectly capture the anxiety and not-so-perfectness of a new, budding relationship set against the backdrop of today's social media driven world. I think everyone has had that moment where they briefly meet a perfect stranger and wonder "what if", well this book is that "what if". Arthur and Ben were written beautifully - both relatable and so damn cute. My only gripe is that I sometimes found myself getting confused when perspectives changed, particularly as I was just getting into the book, as the boys seemed so similar. Occasionally I had to go back to the start of the chapter just to double check who I was reading about. However, once I got more invested in the story it wasn't an issue (especially because I couldn't put the book down!).

I will definitely be recommending this to my friends.