Skip to main content

If he had been with me

 

The book we will be reviewing today is If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin. It is a contemporary young adult novel that explores themes of love, loss, and coming-of-age.


Laura Nowlin holds a BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing from Missouri State University. If He Had Been With Me is a New York Times bestseller and has gained significant popularity as a TikTok sensation around the globe.




The plot unfolds from Autumn's perspective as she navigates the challenges of high school while also grappling with her internal conflicts. Autumn and Finny were once inseparable childhood friends, but as time passed, they grew apart. The novel delves into themes of missed opportunities, the complexities of growing up, and the emotional turbulence that comes with transitioning from childhood to adolescence.


"Just because something seems impossible doesn't mean you shouldn't try," is a quote from the book that reminds us to seize opportunities, even when the odds seem stacked against us. After all, isn't it better to try and fail than to never try at all, forever wondering if it might have worked out if we'd just taken the chance?


"Try to marry your first love. For the rest of your life, no one will ever treat you as well," is a quote from the book that says that we always try to find pieces of our first love in all the others that we meet, which would ruin things because no people are alike and would only lead to disappointment and heartbreak.


"There will always be something I cannot protect him from," is a quote that highlights the uncertainty of the future, suggesting that no matter how much we want to shield someone, there will always be things beyond our control.


If you enjoy reading YA contemporary fiction that explores themes of love, friendship, loss, and coping with life's challenges, this book is for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conspiratopia

  The book we shall be reviewing today is 'Conspiratopia' penned by Timothy S. Boucher. It is a utopian satire on the internet dependent life we are leading today.  Goodreads link Timothy S. Boucher is a former content moderator for a major tech platform, as well as a counter-disinformation researcher who has advised companies, non-profits, and governments on related issues. He has spent the last several years seeding (harmless) conspiracy theories online to study their propagation, as reported by journalist and documentary filmmaker David Farrier (of HBO/Netflix). His fictional satirical start-up was covered in Recode in 2015 (Vox). The story is narrated from our protagonist, Matt's point of view.  Matt is a grown man living in his mother's basement who loves to read conspiracy theories and play games. While reading such a theory, he finds an online survey job that interests him so very much that he immediately signs up for it. Following the orders in the job, he lands...
Post a Comment
Read more

Of Broken Heroes and Haunted Worlds: Matt Spencer Talks Storytelling and Identity

If you’re a fan of dark fantasy, gritty mythology, and stories that aren’t afraid to peer into the shadowy corners of the human psyche, then Matt Spencer’s work is a must-read. In this exclusive author interview, Matt opens up about the inspirations behind his genre-blending stories, from Victorian horror to post-apocalyptic adventures, and the deeply personal threads woven throughout his fiction. Whether he’s exploring faith, fractured identities, or forbidden love, Spencer delivers narratives that are emotionally raw, spiritually charged, and unapologetically bold. Read on to discover the mind behind the mythos. Across the collection, each story feels like a distinct voice—ranging from gothic to mythic to post-apocalyptic. How do you shift your narrative tone so effectively between stories? I prefer to avoid being a one-trick pony. I love and appreciate all kinds of literature, from shamelessly pulpy, to “literary fiction”, to the bonkers experimental, to everything ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapel of Falcon and other stories

The book we will be reviewing today is Chapel of Falcon and Other Stories written by Matt Spencer. It is a fantasy short story collection filled with themes of gods, witches, time slips, dystopia, and forbidden love. Matt Spencer is the author of the Deschembine Trilogy ( The Night and the Land , The Trail of the Beast , The Blazing Chief ) and other notable works like Changing of the Guards and The Renegade God . He’s a jack-of-all-trades who has been a journalist, cook, radio DJ, actor, martial artist, and currently works at a homeless shelter in Vermont. Grab your copy here This collection holds seven stories, each unique in tone and theme, but bound together by Spencer’s rich, mystic worldbuilding and recurring spiritual and mythological motifs. Here’s a peek into a few of them: Chapel of Falcon Told from the third-person perspective, this story follows Frederick Hawthrone as he uncovers the layered myth of Lady and Lord Falcon—divine beings held captive by Lady Seibre. Th...
Post a Comment
Read more