Sage and Charlie are THAT couple, the two people who are so clearly made for each other but so far have been strictly best friends. 

As they begin their senior year at a boarding school, Sage finds herself feeling a connection with Nick, Charlie's twin brother. That seems rather problematic, non? Does she like Nick because she can't have Charlie, who seems determined to date a different girl every month--and none of them her? And then there is Luke, the new guy whom Charlie finds irresistibly interesting. 

K. L. Walther may not address anything new here, but she writes in a way that makes you relate to her characters and story. We've been Sage, the stalwart best friend who might just fall in love with a guy who's perfect for her. But is she ready? If you love someone that intensely when you're seventeen, where does that love go? She overthinks, too consumed with worrying about what might happen to let herself fully feel what is happening. 

We've been Charlie, feeling pressure to live up to others' expectations. We want to be true to ourself, but we can't. What if we let down the people who love us? What if we lose our friends? 

We've been Nick and Luke, loving people who resist loving us in return. We have so much to give them, yet they push against us, too afraid to accept how fully we want to love them. 

Dear reader, there were times I wept. Hard. There were times I laughed, and there were times I just felt happy. Walther's pacing needs some tweaking--right as you get in the groove with some characters or story, there is either a lull or perhaps some repetition. Yet you get caught up in Sage and Charlie's relationships, and you need to find out how things turn out for them. 

I need to get a copy of this for my class library because I can see students inhaling Walther's story. I can also see them finding themselves in her characters.

If We Were Us by K.L. Walther 


Sage Morgan is starting her senior year at the The Bexley School, along with her best friends Charlie and Nick Carmichael. Everyone thinks that Sage and Charlie would be perfect together, but Charlie is a serial dater and they’re strictly friends. Besides, Sage secretly kissed Nick at a summer bonfire on Martha’s Vineyard. 

There’s also a new student at Bexley: Luke Morrison, a PG (post-graduate). He and Charlie form a connection almost immediately, but Charlie has always dated girls and he’s worried about what people will think if he starts dating Luke. 

This book takes place over the course of the school year and unfolds from Sage and Charlie’s dual perspectives. The pace is a little slow at times, but this is exactly what boarding school is like in real life. There’s a whole lot of status quo, punctuated by moments of high drama. Needless to say, friendships are tested and the characters have to figure out who they are and what they want out of life.  

Besides, even though there isn’t a lot of action, the character development is always building upon itself. At first, I thought it would be interesting to have Nick and Luke’s perspectives, but then I realized that they are constants in this equation. They are fleshed-out characters, but the decisions they make are based the actions that Sage and Charlie make. Also, having their direct perspective would take away some of the mystery of the book; this way, the reader doesn’t have any more insight about what Nick and Luke are thinking than Sage and Charlie. 

Sage and Charlie are excellent narrators. They have similar wry personalities, and I can see why their friends think they would make a good couple. While Sage changes over the course of the book, Charlie is the one who really has to figure out his identity; being attracted to another boy is something he hasn’t contemplated before, and there are tons of feelings to accompany a revelation that big. 

I would recommend If We Were Us. Walther absolutely nails boarding school life, which is no surprise since she’s a boarding school alumna. This was a sweet and tender book, with a quartet of characters who mean well, even if their actions don’t always show it. I am looking forward to reading more from Walther in the future. 



I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book I was super excited to read it, but I think I may have been a bit confused with the summary, because I didn’t end up liking it at all. Before writing this I went and read some reviews to see what others thought, and it seems like others had the same problems I had. I love a story with queer characters, which is what drew me to this in the first place. However, I hate when someone is treating the other person in a relationship horribly, for whatever reason. It really made it tough to read. I also really HATE when someone is forced by another to come out of the closet. It is a personal, stressful decision and no one should ever force another into it. 

The writing style wasn’t bad and the pacing was good, I just didn’t love the story line. I know I saw others that loved it, and that is great! The problems I had were just too much for me to be able to get into it. 

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I was provided the e-ARC by the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest opinion.

I really like reading queer narratives which is why I picked this book. I don't understand why there was a need for two couples in this book when it heavily focuses on Charlie's relationship. I think the friendship between Sage and Charlie also doesn't seem quite credible to me, because all of its formation and development and even evidence lies off the page. Their friendship is only used as a tool for Sage to help Charlie out when he is in trouble. 

While I understand that it is true that people like to remain closeted and do things to come off as straight, I absolutely despised the storyline of a straight person having their heart broken to help their closeted friend remain closeted.

Also, can we please stop YA novels with couples who end up together forever when they are in school. Sage, who is vehemently against having her life disrupted for the sake of love and starting a family does exactly that when she is JUST graduating from high school. I understand falling in love, but I cannot imagine someone doing a complete 180 and suddenly wanting to have kids with a person when they are 18 years old.

The writing was also pretty confusing because almost every chapter/POV has a flashbacks and there is no formatting to tell us when it begins or ends.

I only kind of liked this book because of how endearing Charlie and Luke's relationship is and Luke is the only one who behaves like a reasonable person.

I love you, just not that way. Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmicheal have been best friends before starting their senior year at Bexley School. Everyone predicts that they will eventually hook-up, but these two pals have other plans.  Sage has her eyes set on Charlie's twin brother, Nick, while Charlie fights his affections for new post-grad, Luke Morrissey.  In order to keep their true feelings to themselves, Sage and Charlie will protect each other before anyone finds out the truth. Walther tells a story of forbidden romance in a present day setting, especially when it comes to young adults trying identify their own identities.  Told from Sage and Charlie's perspectives If We Were Us can certainly be enjoyed by young adult readers who enjoy best friends protecting and advising each other through the hardships of first loves.

I loved this book! Its a great YA novel that follows two best friends (Sage and Charle) through their last year of boarding school. The point of view shifts back and forth between them, which I enjoyed after a few chapters. The characters are interesting and their relationships are sweet and real. It shows them dealing with issues of identity and love at a time when many things are changing for teenagers.. It was funny, sweet, and sad at times. I highly recommend this novel if you enjoy contemporary YA novels. I could not put it down.

I received a free advanced readers' copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Thanks to Source Books Fire for providing a digital ARC of If We Were Us in exchange for an honest review.

The SECOND I got the notification that I'd received an ARC of this book it moved to the top of my TBR. A fun, unique, high school contemporary with a queer lead? The dream. Until it wasn't.

Every single character in this book is the worst (except Nick. Good for Nick he should leave all these people behind). Let's start with our straight perspective character because while she was the worst, at least she wasn't also pushing harmful messages to the queer community :).

Sage has no personality. She likes watching movies with people. That's it. She treats her secret boyfriend Nick like absolute garbage for basically no reason and even though her whole story line is just "I don't want Charlie to know I'm dating his brother" she never actually seems to feel guilty about the secret so there's even less of a reason for her to be treating Nick like that.

Our other perspective is Charlie. Who's cool and popular (and a theatre kid because imagine having a contemporary gay teen character who's not a theatre kid) and closeted. Charlie's described as having a new girlfriend he dumps every two weeks and barely anyone calls him out on it. When he comes out another character goes "so that's why you pretended with all those girls, that must have been so hard for you" (paraphrasing) as if it wasn't also hard for the slew of girls he was using? You can be gay and still be a womanizer. One does not cancel out the other. Charlie's also garbage to his love interest but it comes mainly from a place of insecurity and worry of being outed.

Which brings us to his boyfriend, Luke. Who was pretty meh for me until abruptly breaking up with Charlie because he wouldn't hold hands with him in public. Don't get me wrong, you're allowed to be frustrated that your SO isn't out but if I have to read one more book that blames a character for ruining a relationship because their closeted (especially when Charlie sucks in so many other, extremely valid ways) I'm probably not going to do much but I'll be angry.

I don't know why non-queer (or at least as far as I could find) authors love turning coming out into some grand romantic gesture but can we stop? Please? A lot of people stay closeted for a lot of very valid reasons and it is in no way someone's partner's place to demand they come out to the world after a few dates.

Sage, her best friend Charlie and his twin brother Nick, are students at a boarding school, entering their senior year. The whole school is convinced Sage & Charlie are secretly in love. They both have secrets, though. When new student Luke arrives at school, he and Charlie instantly click, while Sage begins to develop feelings for Nick. Sage is worried about what Charlie will think of their relationship, while Charlie is scared of how his connection with Luke will be seen by the entire school.

The boarding school vibes of this book are off the chart! I read books like this find myself wishing I could have a high school do-over. If We Were Us is a great YA for anyone seeking heartwarming romance and true friendship. It doesn't hurt that my favorite rom-com, The Holiday, got a shout out. 

I instantly connected with Sage and her relationship with Charlie. Both of their romance storylines are great, but the core of this one is their friendship and the trust that they have in each other. 

I was impressed by how the coming out process was handled (saying this as someone who has never gone through that). There was so much love and acceptance from everyone and it just warmed my heart. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Such a cute and sweet love story. Because yes, this is a love story with all the heartaches and pains and puffy eyes and tears and make out and make ups, and it was a really sweet one.

The book is told from two POVs, from Sage and her best friend Charlie. Charlie is facing his feelings for new super cute boy Luke, and Sage is trying very hard not to fall hard for Charlie's twin Nick. Both are pretty charmed, both act pretty stupidly. How can you do? They are impulsive, indecisive, young, afraid. Things can't always come easy, right?

Among all the sweetness and how cute both of the couples were, there's one thing I wasn't a fan of. Nothing should be forced to come out, no matter how much it's hurting, coming out if you're not ready shouldn't be used as an ultimatum. I can understand the frustration, the sadness, the need to be free, but nope, if you're not ready nobody should force you.

Boarding school life sounds really great or at least that's how the characters made it look like. They were always having themed events, parties, dances, always out and about having adventures and so much fun. They made it sound like something I would've loved to experience.

I liked both voices, Sage's and Charlie's, and how you could read how both of them were trying to find themselves besides them being a duo. How they were without having to share everything with one another, having secrets for the first time ever, to protect themselves. But their friendship is a solid one, and I loved how they were always there for each other, even if being there could've cost them something they started caring much about.

I finished the book in under 5 hours, I needed to know how it was going to end. My heart hurt and was full of feelings. I wanted to see all of them happy because I started caring about these characters, about all their group of friends, and I wanted them to have all the happiness in the world.

I definitely recommend this book! Preorder it asap!!

At a boarding school in Connecticut, Charlie is in love with the new kid Luke, and Sage is in love with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick. The book follows their senior year as they navigate their own identities, figure out what comes next in life as college students, and grow from their mistakes and failures. Throughout the novel, you’ll fall in love with Charlie and Luke, and reminisce on your own days in school and in young love. 

While this book was entertaining and a quick, easy read, I found that the themes and issues were a little “old-fashioned”. This read like a novel from 10 years ago when LGBTQIA+ fiction was starting to become more prevalent. While I acknowledge that there are many ways people experience coming out and identifying themselves publicly (and these are valuable and important windows and mirrors in literature), these days I’m looking for a more “normalized” experience because we have so many of those mirrors. We need more LGBTQIA+ literature that doesn’t simply center around their coming out journey and first gay romance. It also followed all of the tropes you’d expect, and the plot is incredibly predictable. The shifting perspectives between two of the main characters worked well in theory, but Sage’s and Charlie’s narrative voices were nearly identical in tone that I had to return to the start of the chapter occasionally to remember whose POV I was reading. Less egregious was the lack of character development for the auxiliary characters, especially (most egregiously) Nick. At the end of the book when some of the minor characters were mentioned, I honestly couldn’t tell you who they were. 

Despite feeling like it was a bit “done already” and not as developed in regards to character, I enjoyed reading this book. It’s definitely a casual read that you could enjoy for what it is, and the romantic plots will keep you engaged as the author navigates their ups and downs. I can see many of my students eating this up, but it might not be as enjoyable for older audiences.

Oh, you guys. I am OBSESSED with this story. 

The synopsis doesn't do it justice; this review won't do it justice. It's just this incredibly sweet, incredibly awesome love story. (Love stories, plural, really; it's so good and I don't think I can talk about it like a rational person and parse exactly why I love it so much.)

I mean, yes, boarding school stories. And yes, first love. And yes, secret romance. And yes, friends that are like family. But it's all of those things and more.

I have literary-related crazymouth.

So just get this and read it and thank me later.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with the digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

When I bumped into this book on NetGalley, I was immediately sold. The plot sounded promising and I was surely expecting a cute story about two best friends, their last year before going to university and their discovery of love. And I wasn’t disappointed. Anyway, I also found some things that didn’t quite convinced me.
If We Were Us by K. L. Walther is an entertaining book that revolves around Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael. These two have been best friends since forever and here we can definitely see that they care very deeply about each other. Their friendship is one of the best aspects of this novel because they always try to be there for each other, no matter what. Sage and Charlie are really an adorable duo! And that’s something I really appreciated.
I liked the writing style and I think it was perfect for this novel. However, I wasn’t a fan of the two points of view here employed. To me, it felt like they were pretty much the same. At times, I had to go back to the beginning of the chapter to read whose actually POV I was currently reading about because I kept getting confused.

What I didn't like is that a character was kind of forced into coming out because he wasn't ready to do it, but he does so in order to not lose the loved one. I think this kind of message is not okay, not even a little. Especially because young people could read this book and get the wrong idea. Everyone should come out on their own terms and when they feel like it’s the right time. The decision is up to them and not to anyone else.

Overall, If We Were Us is an enjoyable and light read. If you love reading about true friendship and the discovery of love, then it’ll definitely be your cup of tea.

ARC provided by SOURCEBOOKS Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t like this book at all. Most of the characters were very inconsiderate towards each other and barely had any development. It wasn’t even a fluent read. The story felt too short and too long simultaneously: conversations between characters weren’t written down, but they were referenced later by another character. So, they were important, but not enough to be communicated on paper. The character I first thought was the best, namely Luke, resulted being as bad as the others. Breaking up with Charlie, because in the three months they were together he didn’t come out to freaking everyone. What. The. Hell. Also, in the beginning, the author kept reminding the reader that Luke looked fourteen…

As Tatianna would say “Choices…”

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This took me by surprise oh my god. I expected this to be a fun fluffy contemporary, and it was but it was also so much more than that. The characters did this for me. The four main characters Sage, Charlie, Nick, and Luke are SO amazing, I love them with everything I've got. The plot wasn't really strong but that wasn't necessary because these characters made this book such fun. Just reading about their lives made me incredibly happy. 

There were some flaws in this book but they honestly didn't really bother me. I just wished we got a little less rushed ending, but I guess what we got now is also pretty amazing. I just want to read about these characters for forever, even if it's just them doing the groceries or something. My love for them is THAT big. 

So needless to say, I can't recommend this book enough.

3.5/5 Stars

Let's start this review by saying that I enjoyed this book, even though there are some things that I wish were different.
But first, let's talk about what I liked. What made me like this book very much was the characters, I found them enjoyable and I loved the two main couples. I liked how they were all connected and friends and also how deeply they cared for each other, I especially liked Sage and Charlie's friendship. This is a very character-driven narrative, in the sense that not much happens apart from the lives and the relationships these characters are involved in. I guess this might be a deal-breaker for some people, but I'm usually one that enjoys character-driven books and this one was no exception.
I also really enjoyed how the theme of the boarding school was dealt with, it was fun and I also think it was depicted in a pretty realistic way.

Now to the things I didn't particularly liked. The first thing is the double point of view. We get to read the story from Charlie and Sage's perspectives, but the two of them don't sound different at all. I enjoyed them, don't get me wrong, but they just felt like the same person.
The thing that I disliked the most was how a certain "trope" was used. At one point a character breaks up with another because they feel like they cannot be together if the other's not out. I think this event kind of forced the coming out of said character and this was something I definitely did not appreciate since I believe everyone should come out when and if they are ready. I think this particular plot line kind of sends off a bad message and so I just want to point this out so that you're aware this is something that happens in this novel.

In the end this was an enjoyable read and even though I don't agree with some things that happened, I do still recommend it.

I loved the book. It was heart warming and heart breaking. I loved these main characters so much. I love Bexley. Boarding school! Childhood friends! Swoon love stories! This book had it all.

I got an ARC of this book.

I saw total rom com potential in this book. I saw so much hope for a light and fluffy read that would leave my heart happy. I was ready for something light and fun. This book wasn’t light and fun.

Instead it was full of half formed angst that didn’t really make any sense. The plot line for Sage was just really half baked. The reasoning why she couldn’t be in a relationship was barely mentioned. I saw no real reason why that plot existed except to make the boy/boy romance have more weight. It just felt like it was thrown in. Add in that it was implied that Sage slept with guys, but didn’t date. This was then thrown out so she could lose her virginity to her “true love” and equate having sex with being in love. I just didn’t believe they were in love. I also didn’t vibe with the seeing them as married with kids when they were 17/18 during the scene it was brought up. I needed more to see them as long term potential.

The boy/boy plot has already been done so much, but this one had a bit more One was mildly out and one was just coming to terms with being gay in reality. The bit more in this case was the support for being a secret, though it didn’t last. I knew it wouldn’t. The plot was always destined to be “come out or lose me” that is how these plots go. I was disappointed. I though there was going to be more depth to this than some tired cliche plot that even Grey’s Anatomy had. I shipped the boys at least. I thought they made a cute couple.

The weird family dynamic plot with an aunt made no sense to me. Why was she making comments? What was even the point of those interactions? It just felt like it was adding angst, when it was just adding to my annoyance. The coming out scene was great, except for one character. It felt forced and then awkward. Like the author lost control of the scene, but didn’t want to follow through.

The epilogue also bugged me. It was too close to the timeline of the story to really give me closure. I wanted to see them meeting up for summer or winter break during college or maybe after college. I wanted to have a happier ending or at least one that didn’t feel like it was tacked on. I didn’t care that they graduated, I had no doubts they would. The speech was underwhelming.

Overall, I was just let down. I was hoping for more. I wanted more cute, I wanted more romance, I wanted more realistic angst.

I liked this well enough and I think teens will too - they'll enjoy the school dynamics and relationships, making this a worthwhile purchase for YA collections.  And yes, while I liked it, I didn't love it and it's not because of the writing   or anything like that.  Really, what it boils down to is that it tried to do too much through the dual perspectives.  Honestly, I felt way more invested in Charlie and Luke's storyline than Sage and Nick's and lot of that has to do with the fact that I didn't know anything about Nick, beyond him being Charlie's brother.  His character was never developed and I never really understood his relationship with Sage or how the feelings really started.  Sure, there were a couple flashback moments, but nothing that justified a whole narrative.  Also, I found myself just trying to get through Sage's chapters so I could get back to Charlie's perspective.  I think this had a lot to do with my indifference towards Nick, which led to indifference to his relationship with Sage beyond how it impacted Charlie and Luke.  Once again, I didn't dislike Nick or Sage, I thought they were fine, I was just more interested in Charlie and Luke because their narrative and character development were stronger and I feel like I got to know Luke better than I got to know Nick.

That said - this is still a sweet love story, one that will appeal to teens and romance readers.

I didn't connect with this book. It was a quick read, but I was annoyed with the actions of the characters most of the time. I didn't feel a connection with the characters. We are told Sage and Charlie are best friends who attend a private boarding high school.up Charlie has a twin, Nick, who Sage is secretly dating. Then there is the new boy, Luke. I didn't feel like his character was developed enough to understand why everyone loved him. He's a senior who looks like a freshman and he's shy, but everyone is falling for him. It felt very unrealistic. The story unfolds through alternating POV from Charlie and Sage. The voice from each didn't seem that distinct. It annoyed me that the boys (Nick and Charlie) would date other girls to make people jealous. Sage is afraid to fall in love because her parents met and married young and then divorced so she's sure she will have the same experience if she lets herself get too attached to any guy in high school. Then she feels like she has to hide her relationship so no one will find out Charlie is gay. The whole story felt like it was from the 1950s and not present day. There was too much telling and not enough showing in the story. I wanted a deeper development of the characters. This felt like a second or third book in a series instead of a stand alone novel. It felt like the reader was supposed to have already known things about the characters. I wanted a little more depth. 

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, I didn't realize that this book was multiple perspectives when I requested it. Normally, I do not request books like this because they tend to confuse me and I don't find it as compelling to read because I don't get a deep understanding of the characters. I do appreciate the opportunity to read this book, but I will not be finishing it and will not be giving a full review as this book just wasn't for me.