Cover Image: If We Were Us

If We Were Us

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Member Reviews

First loves and senior year- another boarding school romp that warmed my heart. The friendships and the romanceships are real and heartfelt, messy and amazing.

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y'all are a mess and i love it!!!

but seriously, this book was pretty much perfect! I laughed, I cried, and I had an awesome time. I absolutely devoured this book, and I appreciated the care taken with the storyline and its characters. I was terrified there was going to be a non-consensual public outing as is all too common with this genre of YA, but was relieved to find there was not.

Whilst I did get confused sometimes with the changing perspectives and reiteration of scenes, and the initially large cast of characters, I adored this book. Read it!!!

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This book should come with a warning.
You will be giddy, heartbroken and swooning. I was definitely invested in this one. I cannot believe it is a debut novel.

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I feel like I might have a lot to say about this book, but yet there’s almost nothing to say. I really liked the characters in the story even though none of them were like really flushed out. I wish I had known more about Nick or known more even about Saige herself. I think having four main characters was almost a detriment to the story because we didn’t get to know everybody fully.
I think Charlie and Luke! had an OK relationship but I feel that there wasn’t enough of a romance between them I wanted to see more build up and then falling for each other. It ended up being more of a “I see a boy and I like him, watch me be become gay now”. It needed some more. I also don’t like that Charlie coming out doesn’t really become a huge plot point until the last 20% of the story. With some more edits I think this book could be 5x better.

Overall I would give it a 3.5/5

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Overall, this book was a hit.
The four main characters were certainly entertaining, with their miscommunications driving the plot forward. This made the story a fun, crazy romp of drama and excitement.
I did struggle slightly with some of the LBGT+ inclusion, specifically, the coming out process in this book. A character is heavily forced to come out, which was a struggle to read about. Coming out should be entirely at the discretion of the individual coming out, so seeing them so influenced was hard to read.

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I went into this book expecting a cute story about the bestest of friends and a faux love triangle and on that front, I was definitely not disappointed. I just love friendships so, so much. And I definitely enjoyed this book, even though there were some small things that irked me.

The characters

Sage? Amazing. Cool. Love her. She’s confident and such a nice, sweet character. If someone needs her, she’ll be there, especially when it’s Luke or Charlie needing her. Sage is extremely loyal to her loved ones. I also understood her struggles very well. She’s generally such a relatable character.

While I got annoyed with Charlie from time to time, I think he and the struggles and problems he had were really well written. He’s still figuring out his life and what he wants to do with it, he is trying to work out who he is and who he wants to be. I believe that many young people are going through the same stuff he is going through so I’m pretty sure he is relatable for many teenagers, especially closeted ones.

Nick is caring and sweet and more on the quiet side. I liked him. But I thought some of his actions were too rash and not thought through. I liked Luke though. He is such a cool character, a bit shy but incredibly smart and has a good sense of humor. I also liked the friendships between those characters but also with others. The friendships were the best about this book, with everyone trash talking, being supportive of each other, having fun but also having secrets. The portrayal of friendships was so good and so realistic. Especially Charlie and Sage had such a beautiful friendship. It’s such an unconditional love for each other, I could read about them saving each other’s asses all day. I LOVE THEM.
The romances were a whole other things. Some drama and heartbreak could have been avoided so easily if they just talked to each other. Drama due to miscommunication or a lack of communication is a thing I absolutely can’t stand. *Beware, next sentence contains a spoiler which I’m whiting out* I’m also tired of the I-can-only-be-with-you-if-you’re-out-trope.

The world building

This one, I loved! I wish I could just drive around the campus of Bexley on my own bike and just look at all the dorm rooms and the different school buildings and look at the stars at night and run from lesson to lesson and study in the library while watching other people. I could imagine everything so well.

The writing

I liked the writing in general. It was fitting for this novel. The problem was that there were no differences between Sage and Charlie’s voices. I had to go back sometimes and check whose chapter I was currently reading. I also think some scenes / chapters could have been longer. They sometimes end abruptly and I just thought „and where’s the rest?“ This especially happened when there was an event that was talked about for pages before but then was only mentioned in passing or for half a chapter.

Overall

This was a solid novel with wonderful characters that have so much love to give and give it to their wonderful friends. It was full of humor and great world building and I read it in one day, I just couldn’t stop myself.

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4.5
Yay! This books was good and one of the stronger books I’ve received from Netgalley.

I felt like I was there in the setting, a classmate or a friend who was at part of this entire drama llama experience. It was lovely. It was engaging. It was very human and felt like a solid presentation of the woes and wonders of sorting out who we are/identity. You feel the tensions in all of the relationships (except the adult relationships those are pretty simplistic I thought?). Those tensions carry you through a shifting perspective adventure where you want to know how it ends.

From a character standpoint I found the first 2/3 better than the end section, but the book is a strong (debut I think!?) product regardless. I know students will fall for these characters and relate to them so much.

I will say I wished it wasn’t so so white besides one big character, but I guess that is realistic to the setting. (But I don’t know, I’m a PoC and I was definitely at a school like this.. can you include someone like me passing by to walk to class at least?? I think you can.. ).

Anyways, a great coming of age, relationships growing and changing, soothing through identities story. Really enjoyed it and it’s going to do well!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. .

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Buckle up, folks, because I have a rant and a half for you. This book may look a cute read, but oh boy did it also manage to piss me off.

The story follows two best friends: Sage and Charlie. Sage is straight and sort of maybe in love with Charlie’s brother, Nick. Charlie is gay, but busy dating pretty much every girl he can in an effort to hide it. I think you can probably guess my first complaint here.

I’m just tired of reading books where the gay character hates themselves. Particularly when it’s not handled at all well (like here). Particularly when it’s not (ostensibly) ownvoices. I’m not saying “you have to be out to write this storyline” or anything, because that’s as shitty as some of the things this book espouses. I just think you need to be a helluva lot more careful about it than here.

Two things here made it bad, specifically. Firstly, Charlie doesn’t exactly treat any of the girls very well. He dates them for a couple weeks, then unceremoniously ditches them. And he also doesn’t really treat Luke all that well at times (particularly when they start dating but aren’t out). It would be okay if the book took a clear stance on this, that he doesn’t treat them well and that he can’t excuse it with being closeted. It doesn’t take the opposite stance by any means, but it definitely could have made it clearer.

Then, the kicker. Just when you start to feel sorry for Luke, he pulls the “we can’t be together if you’re not out” card. I don’t know how to describe just how pissed off I got at that point. Yes, in the book we’re not expecting Charlie’s family to actually be homophobic (casual comments perhaps aside), but to say that, to have that as the message of the book? Feels irresponsible. Especially since then Charlie doesn’t really choose to come out to his parents, but more does it because Luke has broken up with him over it. I don’t know how to make it clear enough that you should let people come out on their own terms and in their own time. And anything that says otherwise is just bad.

One final thing (about the gay rep at least): you know when you get the whole sense of a book being all look at me I’m a gay ally and you just cringe? That’s very much the case here. There’s even a distinct scene I can point to that’s like, the most unsubtle thing. Joking that Charlie should be hiding in the closet instead of Sage’s bed from Sage’s parents, and thinking “no one should have to hide in the closet”. No, really. It’s a genuine part.

But, besides all that, there were actual other things that stopped me liking the story so much. Namely, I could not give less of a shit about Sage’s storyline. She spends half of it treating Nick like crap for some dumb reason, so that, when she’s upset they’re not together, I have such little patience for her I was tempted to skip her parts entirely. I mean, yes to complex and not always perfect female characters, but no to the ones who do exactly what the male ones do (and piss me off in the same way).

Finally (and I mean it this time), there are so many conversations in this book that just get referenced. We don’t see them happening, but they are clearly important conversations, because they get brought up later. But surely it’s better to give the reader those conversations, rather than the ones that merely reference them. Particularly when said conversations might actually provide some character/relationship development as well. And don’t even get me started on the timeskips.

So yeah. As you may be able to tell by the sheer length of this review, me and this book did not get along.

To say the least.

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If We Were Us is dual POV, which I love, but it wasn't my favorite book of the year. Don't get me wrong--I didn't hate it, but I wasn't wowed. Boarding schools, LGBTQ characters, gay/straight best friends are all tropes I adore, but this felt a bit Gossip Girl or The OC-ish--a lot of drama with a little true resolution. I love m/m romance, but I wanted to punch Charlie a bunch of time. He was so far in closet that he was hurting more than himself, and Sage was enabling him. Regardless, the writing was good and I didn't feel cheated at the end, so all's well that ends well.

I received this book from NetGalley to review, but the opinions are all my own.

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This was my first book by the author. I wasn't know how it all was gonna turn out but I liked the blurb and I was really interested to read the story.
So thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS fire for making that possible.

This book hadls all the ingredients of an entertaining teen drama. The main characters, Sage and Charlie are best friends and everyone thinks that are going to be so.ething more than that. But it's not that simple since Charlie starts showing interest in the new student Luke and Sage and Nick(Charlie's twin) starts getting close but Nick thinks that Sage is still has a crush on Charlie. As you can see here, this story has a fair share of drama and angst. Some of the part, such as Sage keeping Nick and her relationship a secret, was a bit over the top. As I said this book has it's share of teenage drama. But it also focuses on some important aspects of teen life such as getting good grades, holding up peer expectations and also trying to figure themselves out as an individual. An best example of the last part was Charlie figuring out his sexuality and trying to come out of the closet. The best part is definitely the friendship Charlie and Sage shared. They both had their fair share of mistakes and to be honest these characters were relatable. I enjoyed this book and if you are looking for a good high school romance with lots of drama and angst then you should definitely check this one out. It comes out on Jun 1 this year and I hope you like it as much as I did.

Happy reading!

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I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw this book, I thought it sounded like it would be a great read! I am happy to admit, I did like the book. I didn’t fall in love with it, okay, I loved the first few chapters. And I like overcoming problems as much as the next person, but I would have loved for the whole book to be light hearted and happy, and that was definitely not the case. The book takes a much darker, grimmer tone the second half of the book. I will admit I wasn’t expecting that.
As with the book description, the book was focused on relationship issues. That in itself was accurate. I will admit that some of the “issues” I felt were contrived for drama purposes and it didn’t feel all that natural. I wish it had, because I think the relationships were some of the best parts of the book, especially the friendships. Sometimes I feel that we rarely get to see fun and natural friendships between characters, and I felt that this book did such a great job of that. It is a large friend group, but I think that as they all gathered together and hung out, it felt really natural and written in a way that worked. It was one of the high points of the book.
As far as the writing goes, I think the writing was good. There were times when it was absolutely amazing, and then there were others where it felt a lot more stilted. Of it all, the dialogue between Sage and Charlie is some of the best in the book.
Character wise, I have a hate love relationship with both Sage and Charlie. Because at the beginning and the end I really liked their personalities, but in the middle of the book I loathed them. It was aggravating for me, but in the end some of it did feel like how I remember being a teen would. Mind you, I never dated, but from what I remember of my friends who did, Sage definitely felt true to that. (Even as frustrating as it was.)
In the end, I think that it was a good book, but not one that blew me away.

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It has been an absolute joy to get lost in this world with these relatable, easy-to-root-for characters. Though this seems like a stand-alone, I would love to follow these characters to see what lays next for them!

‘If We Were Us’ is part coming-out, part coming-of-age, and full of fun teenage antics which can only be found in an environment with minimal supervision, such as a boarding school. Teenagers go through a lot between keeping up with grades, peer expectations, and trying to figure themselves out, both for right now and in terms of what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It’s fantastic to see this play out in our characters without intrusive influence from parents and teachers.

This quartet gave me all the feels and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Grab your copy on June 1, 2020! I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

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This was a cute dual POV YA romance in which we primarily follow Charlie and Sage. I enjoyed both the friendship and romantic relationship dynamics and all the twists and turns of each throughout the story—it felt authentic to being a teen and figuring out who you are and what you want. I found the writing light and easy to breeze through while still staying very character-driven. I enjoyed and would recommend for fans of the kinds of ensemble casts found in an Emma Mills or Emery Lord book.

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Arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

3.5*

Told in a dual perspective, we follow Charlie and Sage, who are in their final year at a boarding school called Bexley. Everybody at Bexley believe Charlie and Sage are destined to become a couple. However, Charlie and Sage are best friends and want to keep it that way.

When Luke starts at school, Charlie has to come to terms with his true feeling and find the courage to let others know who he truly is. Charlie's fear of coming out, and his reliance on the public image he has built puts a strain on Luke and his relationship.

At the same time, Sage starts to have feelings for Charlie's (non-identical) twin brother, Nick. This relationship is put on the rocks as Sage's parents, who were high school sweethearts, ended in disaster. On top of this, Nick suspects that Sage has a crush on Charlie, which is not helped when Sage wants to keep their relationship a secret in the beginning.

As you can probably tell, If We Were Us is full of drama and angst. I really enjoyed Charlie and Luke's relationship and how Charlie's turmoil over being in the closet was handled.

The romance had a lot of angst and I loved it. The friendships between the cast was also well done. They had each others backs, even when they were not properly communicating.

However, most if not all of the conflict in this book was caused by miscommunication. The miscommunication trope is fine, but here it was so over used it became irritating and I just wanted to shout at the characters to talk and stop being stupid!!

One thing that got on my nerves more than most, was Sage using Charlie being in the closet as an excuse to keep her relationship with Nick a secret. It just didn't make sense, Charlie dated loads of girls within the course of this book to cover that he was gay, and just because the whole school thought Charlie and Sage were soulmates, didn't mean they'd all realise Charlie was gay if Sage started dating Nick. Sage just had a lot of moments that annoyed.

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Sage Morgan has been best friends with the Carmichael twins since they were all six years old. They spend summer vacations and holidays together, and now they attend the same boarding school. Charlie and Sage have always been especially close, and the two are the reigning couple on campus even though they've never actually dated each other. Everyone just knows it's going to happen eventually. Charlie churns through girlfriends but spends all his real time and affection on Sage. It feels like something is missing, but he's trying really hard to pretend it's not. Then he meets Luke. Suddenly that thing Charlie has known about himself for a while becomes a lot harder to ignore. Sage, meanwhile, starts secretly seeing Charlie's twin, Nick. But Nick doesn't know the truth about Charlie, so he's jealous of how much time she spends with his brother and worries that she's just passing time with him until the inevitable happens and Charlie and Sage finally admit their feelings for each other. And Charlie is scared to come out and change everyone's perception of him as the BMOC. Will Sage be caught between her love for Nick and her loyalty to Charlie forever? Or can Charlie be brave enough to risk it all and be with the person who finally brought him to life?

If this sounds like a teen soap opera, it absolutely is...IN THE VERY BEST WAY. I was sucked in immediately to the Bexley world, and I got caught up in the secrets and drama. I felt butterflies in my stomach as Charlie and Luke tentatively explore their feelings for each other, and I was terribly invested in them making it work. Sage was their favorite third-wheel, allowing them to take their time, and I loved her connection with both of them. I was a little disappointed not to get to know Nick better...he was the weakest of the 4 main characters, just because the other three were larger than life and he paled in comparison. There were glimpses of his awesomeness, but I just wanted to see more. Still, the shifting POVs between Sage and Charlie helped tell the story from all sides, and there were some time jumps to prevent them from rehashing any of the same information over again.

The writing is super easy to read. It flows easily, but it is witty and incisive and intelligent. Sensitive issues are handled with tact and care, and more than anything, I loved how much these characters all showed up for each other, again and again. This is a debut novel? That is apparently going to be a duology (Hallelujah!)? I loved it and couldn't stop reading, but I was also really, really sad when I got to the end because I didn't want it to be over. I hope K. L. Walther writes quickly so I can get my next installment of Bexley (or post-Bexley...is the next one going to be about them in college?) ASAP.

**Thank you to NetGalley and SourceBooks for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

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I adored this book! Once I passed chapter 4 I couldn’t imagine putting it down. The dialogue was perfect and witty and the characters were well fleshed out. I did, however, find Sage and Nick’s story to be less engaging as their issues stemmed from seemingly unnecessary miscommunication, and briefly considered flipping past Sage’s chapters to get back to Charlie and his story. (I didn’t, but the temptation was momentarily there). On the flip side, I adored Charlie and Luke. Luke is definitely my favourite character and his relationship with Charlie was wonderfully told. While I didn’t find Charlie’s narrative voice to be that unique from Sage’s, his conflict was effectively told. I think this book will be a great recommendation in my bookstore for teens looking for a uniquely told rom-com, and I can’t wait to share it with them!

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I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. A huge thanks to the publisher for If we were us, it was one of my most anticipated reads!

Charlie Carmichael and Sage Morgan are friends since forever and everyone in the Bexley School believe they are meant to be, even if Charlie changes girlfriend every month. When Luke Morrissey starts to attend the school, Charlie's and Sage's lives are changed forever. Luke and Charlie click right away drawn to one other, becoming really close really fast and Sage decides to spend more time with Charlie's twin, Nick.
Charlie has always hide his sexual orientation, afraid of what others, his twin and parents included, may think, while Sage was traumatized by her parents' (who were high school sweethearts) divorce and she's scared to lose Nick in the future if they are serious while young, if she decides to feel free to love him.
Both Charlie and Sage have to deal with their own feelings and fears, relying on each other and their frienship.

I really liked If we were young. Told by two POVs, Charlie's and Sage's, the story follows them while figuring out their feelings, fighting their fears in the prestigious Bexley high school. Sage, Charlie and Nick are friends since forever and they are really close to one other, Their frienship and love is so pure and sweet, it was incredible reading about their shared memories and traditions and how close Charlie and Nick are, what Sage would do (and wouldn't) to protect Charlie's secrets, how they all are ready to defend, comfort and help one other right away.
Through their eyes the reader can read about the frienships, new couples, gossips and traditions in Bexley, during their last year at school, sending applications for colleges, hoping, fearing the change, doing homework, flirting, joking, seeing movies, going out. It's a slice of life.
There are misunderstadings, lies, secrets that complicate Charlie's, Luke's, Sage's and Nick's lives, until they are ready to be honest to one other and be free to be themselves.
Sage's fears and secrets prevents her to be with Nick right away, while Nick is hindered by his insecurities and people's gossips. They are really sweet together, I liked their friendship and relationship.
I found Charlie and Luke really sweet and cute and their relationship is full of smirks, jokes, feelings and so much love I was in love with them being in love.

This book is really amazing. It deals with insecurities, fears, coming out, love, friendship and growing up and how to be themselves instead of what others think you have to be. Beautiful.

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This was such a slow read for me. I was determined to read the novel as the reviews have been great. However, I struggled keeping my attention on the book.

You can see where the story is heading quiet early in the book, but that was a deal breaker for me. I kind of like working through the heavy stuff with the characters. Having said that, I do feel like things could have been better written -- for the love of God, just stop being pop stars in books!

Friendship and love are the main focus on this book but I felt it was a little bit shallow. Maybe it's because this was a high school themed book? Either way, I struggled connecting with the characters.

I also want to say the book was a bit too long. I feel like the same story could have been told, with far less chapters.

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While this book sounded so cute and diverse, I decided to DNF it : I honestly can't tell the difference between the various POVs, because EVERYONE sounds the same. Also, all the words in italic really bother me. Italic / caps lock are used to emphasize a word, but used too frequently = ruins the purpose. Anyways. I'm sad I couldn't keep going with this book, but it's just such a chore! And I promised myself in 2020 that I'd stop forcing myself through books I don't enjoy.

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4.5 stars

There were so many thoughts going through my head while I was reading this book, and again when I was done. It’s hard to put them all to paper.

I went through stages of giddiness and heartbreak, with the occasional swooning every few pages. There was no doubt I was 100%, probably more like 150% invested in everything that happened in this book. The writing was fantastic, another debut novel that knocks it out of the ball park, and the overall plot was just outstanding!!!!

If We Were Us is about four kids in high school/boarding school. Brothers/twins, a childhood friend, and a new guy that turns their life upside down.

I LOVED IT ALL, THE ANGST, THE FEARS, THE DOUBTS, THE STRUGGLES, THE WRONG DECISIONS, THE RIGHT DECISIONS, THE COMING TOGETHER, THE FALLING APART.

And the reason why I loved it all was because of the writing. The author nailed it! She made it feel all so authentic, so real, in every way. The struggles about identity, loyalty, friendship, love, expectations, couldn’t have felt anymore real.

I also loved Charlie, and Sage’s alternating POVs. The book is actually written in a way that there are two love-stories, but the main focus is the quartet, Charlie and his twin Nick, best friend Sage, and newcomer Luke. The chemistry and banter were through the roof. The characters were all very well developed and the different personalities, with Luke being my favorite, just jumped off the pages. Best of all, whenever the characters were together – cuteness alert. It didn’t matter who it was. The friendships and real affection between all four was what carried this book. Absolutely adorable at times. Sweet. Touching. There was just so much heart and soul in this book.

I would have liked a longer ending, I needed a big more of the future of them all. But otherwise, this novel is one of the best YA books I read this year AND last year too.

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