If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin is a beautifully written subpar book that I wish gave me more. This book is a coming-of-age book about two best friends harboring secret feelings for each other while also dealing with the ins and outs of high school.
I read this book because my friend swore up and down that I would have a new view of life after reading this story. While reading this book I felt as if I went through the stages of grief with the character. Did I want to scream at her sometimes because she was making a stupid decision? Yes. But I still loved her because she felt like she was a real high schooler making mistakes she would look back on wondering what would happen if she had done them differently. My biggest critique was the beginning of the book and the end of the book. When you read the book, you’ll understand but something is said at the beginning of the book, I wished had just been left for the twist at the end of the book. If you want the shock factor, hold all twists for close to the end, please. I give this book three out of five stars because of that fact because the author withheld the feeling of a shock factor from me. I still would like to credit the author for making an emotionally devastating book, that left me crying in my work’s bathroom. I just wanted more from this book and I’m hoping the boy's perspective in the duology book is better but honestly, I don’t even know if I can handle reading it after this book. It was just a lot. I would recommend this book for anybody who wants the taste of a young adult book that leans more on the adult side but also for people who just want to get into reading more because it is a good book to get you into reading.