What If It's Us Hardcover – October 9, 2018

There is something magical about this time of year. I spent the last couple of days eating way too much food, shopping for gifts, and decorating the house for the holidays. And though this year required us to do things differently than we have in years past, those holiday traditions still bring the same amount of magic that they always have. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to curl up next to the fire with a good book. The Texas weather finally brought us winter this weekend, so I decided to take full advantage and finish reading What If It's Us. This cute love story was the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.Arthur is soaking up every moment of his summer internship in New York. The soon-to-be high school senior is completely committed to taking in all of the sights and sounds of the city life, even if that means neglecting the duties of his job. Today though, his internship has sent him on a mission that allows him to fulfill both of his desires. Today, he's been tasked with dropping off work documents at the post office. Yes, this is just a simple errand, but the city is ripe with adventure and opportunity.Ben is at the post office for an entirely different reason. He's got a box full of stuff that belongs to his ex-boyfriend. The breakup is still so fresh and difficult that Ben can't bear to even see his ex. Having all of this stuff that reminds him of the relationship isn't helping either. It makes sense to just mail it all back to him and rid himself of that part of his life for good. As you can imagine, fate has other plans. Ben and Arthur meet in line at the post office and have a really cute conversation. The spark between the two is undeniable, but then they are separated. Was this just a chance encounter meant to fill that small moment of time, or is this something more? You'll have to read to find out.I was so drawn into the story and characters that it is almost impossible for me to objectively comment on this book. In What If It's Us co-authors Becky Albertalli (of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda fame) and Adam Silvera deliver the kind of meet-cute YA romance that you'll have a hard time putting down. I don't normally read this genre, so I was a bit apprehensive at first. As I started reading, I couldn't help but find little pieces of myself in each of the characters. There's something about navigating the final years as a teenager that is universally relatable. Take away the fact that the main characters are gay (this story could have been equally effective with a heterosexual couple), and you are still left with a story that is just too compelling to not read. Is this a great work of literature that will be touted for its prose and structure? Of course not. But there's so much about What If It's Us to like about that you won't mind the little things that would normally detract from a novel. A sequel has recently been announced, and I really can't wait to read more about these characters.

“I don’t know if we’re a love story or a story about love.”Right up front: this book brought tears to my eyes at the end. It channeled all the trauma of being a teenager, as well as the joy of coming out at last. The story of Ben and Arthur should be entirely different from my own story – they could practically be my grandchildren. But no, it resonated deeply in me, both as a gay man, and a father.I am intensely cynical when I approach young adult novels from mainstream publishers, particularly when they have gay content. Why? Not sure, but I think it’s because so many mainstream publishers ignore so much great LGBT content, I automatically wonder “why this book?” Is it because it’s safe, acceptable, within received norms as to how much gay is ok?Being a gay teenager in high school in the very early seventies was awful. Nobody was out. Everyone was afraid. My own experience was not technically that bad, but in retrospect, I was as confused and frightened and isolated as any closeted gay teen at the time. The closet was the default for all of us. Of course, I didn’t have books like this back then. I had The Boys in the Band.Albertalli and Silvera create a lovely rhythm with the structure of this book, alternating between the viewpoints of Puerto Rican Ben from Manhattan and Jewish Arthur from ex-urban Atlanta. These seventeen-year-olds are fully fleshed-out, richly dimensional. They observe the world around them closely, and they respond to it. Most importantly of all, they have parents they love (in that eye-rolling teenaged way) and friends who matter hugely in their lives. We see through these boys’ eyes, and we see a lot.The futility of high-school romances is sort of at the center of this book, but I think that’s a bit of a red herring. The interplay between Ben’s wounded cynicism and Arthur’s starry-eyed romanticism is critical to their relationship with each other, but it’s also essential in their relationship to their friends – Jessie and Ethan for Arthur, and the more complex quartet of Dylan, Harriet, Hudson and Samantha for Ben. All these young people need each other but are groping forward in their hormone-infused teen lives to figure out how the different kinds of love – love of family, love of friends, romantic love – are going to be part of them. It is confusing and aggravating and frightening. Which, as I remember if I think very hard on my own high-school years, is exactly right.I want to say that there’s no “happy ending” for this book, but in fact there is: it’s just not the kind of happy ending we as a culture are primed to see in a romantic story. I will give no detail, but suffice it to say that as I ended this book, blinking away tears, I felt hopeful and comforted. Maturity is something I wasn’t looking for in these pages, and its discovery therein was an unexpected gift.

A sweet meet cute story. I'm probably a little older than the target audience but it was still enjoyable if a little chaste. I mean...all I hear about is how sexed up kids are these days.

I did not love this book that much, but I do love both the authors other books, such as they both die in the end and Simon vs the Homo sapiens agenda. Just not for me, but shipping all that was good. **didn't finish

I was reading along with the audiobook. I think the audiobook had made it more interesting as I like the people voices the characters.I would say it’s is a predictable book, the way things build up and the ways this get torn up near the end and how it’s ends on a good note. Also the characters as well which were kinda cliche.This book was very cute but I kinda got over it when they had their breakdown and Arthur and Ben were mad at everyone and everything like idk it was abut annoying so I skipped that.Don’t know if I’ll read the second book in the series but it was a fun book to have playing in the back while your working.

Not much happens, there is little plot or story. I found the overuse of the word cute really off-putting, there are so many other adjectives the authors could have used. I managed to finish the book, because I kept hoping that it would get better.

I so loved They Both Die in the End. It's a beautiful, original, clever book. Love, Simon was cute, not on the same level at all, but I enjoyed it. So when this came out I figured it would be great.Not so. It's OK, but there's no original ideas here at all. And I found the characters very one dimensional. It's a 3 star book, readable but forgettable. A sort of holiday read you can leave on the plane book.

This was really cute and awkward and geeky. I thought Ben and Arthur were adorable, and I enjoyed getting to know them as they got to know each other. It was a really easy read, and perfect in the afternoon sunshine. New York is one of my favourite settings, and I definitely appreciated touring the city with the boys. There were also lots of nerdy references along the way. Just a lovely little story about two boys falling in love for the summer.