Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

60 reviews

mary_do_12's review

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

let me be honest, i read through four years of autumns life and i couldn’t have been more unaffected. it felt like in those four years, nothing at all happened.

but i was ready to sort of accept all that, when i was hit in the face with BOOM
CHEATING TROPE
(sort of)
BOOM
ACCIDENTAL PREGNANY
(two people! that are in high school!! from their first time!!!)
and i lost it.
you lost me.

the reader knowing the end from the start was supposed to be mysterious and cool, probably, but it didn’t feel like it.
where was the tension?
where was whatever was supposed to make this book interesting?

also, autumns suicide attempt was very uncomfortable for me, and that‘s simply because the whole book had a way of being shallow, and throwing something that serious in there right at the end felt very odd and almost romanticized.

could not conform to this book very much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Suicide attempt, and Car accident

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Mental illness, Death, Vomit, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual assault, Miscarriage, and Rape

borderbunny0308's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Wasn’t able to put the book down in many parts but honestly it did not live up to its online reputation. I expected it to have me bawling by the end but idk it just left me feeling like “that’s so sad” instead of the “I will never get over this” statements I saw online. I love this book and will most likely read if only I had told her but it was just a bit underwhelming. I would recommend this book but I wouldn’t go in with expectations TOO high. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Toxic friendship

brooklyndays's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Car accident, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Vomit, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

Minor: Miscarriage

strangeweather98's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Self harm, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Toxic relationship, Rape, Grief, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

cloha's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

“Finny?” “Oh Autumn.”

Ending was abrupt but not entirely unexpected. I think it portrayed childhood friends and young love well. The book read to me like it was trying to be a modern day Romeo and Juliet story. Right as everything fell into place, all was lost. It was upsetting and taught the importance of being honest. Any book that has the power to do this, is a decent book to me. The character types were kind of cringe but I guess there's a level of realism with that, since coming-of-age is generally thought to be a cringey part of our lives. It was realistic to how we are before we transition into adulthood. My issue is that I don't really know what age range to place this book. Seemed like it was a pretty light read until the end. The whiplash felt unpleasant more than it surprising me or challenging me or giving me something to chew on. It felt a little sloppy even? Like the plot was too clunky or the foreshadowing was too obvious or the characters were too predictable? Unsure. But some positives were that I enjoyed reading about Autumn's friend group. I thought the titling of things like the "Steps to Nowhere" and "The Mothers" was a creative touch. I was pretty invested in the characters by the end of book, so when Sasha and Jamie become a thing, I was so appalled. That's usually a good sign of being committed to the characters.

a few fav scenes:
pg 107 when both Finn and Jamie stood up
pg 88 the lunch table war
pg 132 protectiveness
pg 169 boys being boys meeting boy
pg 205 "Ales spends the night at Jamie's. Jamie tells Alex that he doesn't like Trina. That nobody likes Trina. That everybody likes Sasha. That Sasha misses him." - foreshadowing / power they had over each other
pg 314 "'Well,' Finny says, 'to be fair, you do need a ride.' 'No, I don't,' I say. 'I have you.' Finny smiles."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Mental illness, Self harm, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Suicide attempt, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Grief

shaleen64's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A slow burn romance that most readers will be able to relate to; loving someone but missing your opportunity to be with them. The book centres on Autumn and Finn through their schooling years, which gives a YA genre feel, but without the writing style to match. The book will have you laughing, longing and crying. It’s worth the read if you enjoy a romance.
*Spoiler*
I do feel the ending was rushed and had we of had more time getting to know Autumn and Finn within a romantic relationship together the ending would have held greater emotional pull. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Miscarriage, Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

sarahshock's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of the best books I've ever read. 10/10 recommended!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Blood, Self harm, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Drug use, Alcohol, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

vikart's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book is about a girl, to put it simply, going through her teenage years and discovering how she feels about different things.

I did enjoy the fact that I was put in a position where I could clearly understand why the main character felt in such ways at different parts of the story. Though, I think that it was a little bit predictable. The only thing I did not expect was the last twist since I was led to believe that the last 30 pages will be a simple epilogue. Unfortunately, I picked this up because I was expecting something to make me cry, but instead I just thought it was all complicated and the ending annoyed me rather than offering me a teary moment.

Despite all my words, I do think this is a good book. There are a lot of upsetting topics that can really grab in your feelings (even in my case where it was annoyance rather than sadness), just beware of the topics in this book as they may or may not touch you personally.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Self harm, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Death

venice_the_vampire's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

are you kidding me. i am never reading a straight person book again. what the fuck was this. why did i waste my time reading 400 pages for THAT. YOU CANT REPLACE THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE WITH A CHILD ARE YOU KIDDING ME YOU CANT REPLACE YOUR PARTNER PERIOD THIS IS SO INFURIATING 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Death, and Car accident

maddielags's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I can’t even describe this book. It has left me absolutely speechless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity