I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this novel! 

Title: What If It's Us
Author: Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Released: 9th October 2018
Publisher: Simon and Schuster 
My Rating: 4 stars
Trigger/content warnings: Some homophobia, anxiety attacks, mentions of divorce and cheating. 


This dual perspective book follows Arthur and Ben, two boys who meet one day in a random New York post office and decide to not let their story end there. 

Arthur is working as an intern in his mum's office for the summer holidays, he is Jewish and has ADHD. Ben is Puerto Rican, studying in summer school and has just come out of a relationship, that is how he meets Arthur at the post office, as he is posting a box of stuff back to his ex-boyfriend. 

Deals with themes of family, friendship, love, race and culture. 

I really loved this book, I gave it 4 stars, however, there were some bits that ended up annoying me throughout the story. This is all just my personal opinion, I see why people love (and will love) this book. 

The writing style was amazing, even though this is a collaborative work, it flowed perfectly and I can't wait to read more by these wonderful authors!  

I loved all the references, especially the ones about Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and Harry Potter.

I really liked Ben and Arthur as individuals, but I didn't really like them as a couple or feel any sort of connection between them. Ben was obviously still not over his previous relationship with Hudson, he compared every little thing that he did with Arthur, to what he used to do with Husdon. This eventually got very annoying. I feel like if you are so obviously not ready for another relationship, then just don't. The timing was all wrong, but maybe that was the point? 



POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

-I really disliked the ending. I am the sort of person that needs a concrete conclusion to a story, I really dislike books that end on an ambiguous note and unfortunately, this one did. 
-I just felt like the whole story was doomed to fail from the very beginning and that's why I wasn't very invested in Ben and Arthurs relationship. It was obvious how this was going to play out. 


One thing is for sure, you will laugh, cry, feel anger and happiness when reading. This is definitely the sort of book that will make you feel every emotion.

DNF at 44%

Ben's summer isn't going the way he hoped. Not only is he attending summer school, Ben has also broken up with his boyfriend Hudson. Now he finds himself at the post office intending to post a box of his ex's belongings.
Ben has a meet-cute with Arthur at the post office, but doesn't get his name.
Can Ben and Arthur find each other again?

Contemporaries are either hit or miss for me and, unfortunately, What If It's Us was a miss.
I struggled to connect with any of the characters and I didn't particularly like Arthur or Ben.
The plot failed to hook my attention and not much happened. It got to the point where I couldn't bring myself to read any further.
Knowing how popular this book and the authors are, I'm very disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me.

I loved this slightly unconventional love story. For me anything that combines love, broadway musicals and a flash mob is an automatic winner, but this story really blew me away. I loved everything from the starcrossed lovers, to the what if's and the Dear Evan Hansen book title. The perfect LGBT love story.

In brief:
- Arthur is very Becky Albertalli (Jewish, ADHD, enthusiastic) and Ben is very Adam Silvera (Puerto Rican)
- Side characters are fun but kinds all the same
- Quite a few pop culture references
- A bit too lovey-dovey and stupid/tropey angst
- Main focus is do-overs, both in terms of friendships and relationships
- Treasure hunt with people and locations from their summer is cute

I ended up DNFing this book which was a huge disapointment for me.
I love both Becky Albertalli and Adam silveras over works but this book just wasnt for me.

A heartwarming queer meet-cute full of humour. This book was such a joy to read. The two points of view are weaved together seamlessly. Each character had their own, distinct personality which came out in the writing style, but they were well matched and switching between the two felt easy.

It is full of adorable, realistic romance and some great friendships. The story is so engrossing and every time I had to put the book down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. I lived in Arthur and Ben's world for a little bit and what a wonderful time I had.

Highly recommended for all contemporary YA fans.

Rating - 4 stars

What If It’s Us was an absolutely beautiful book. Becky and Adam have both been one of my favourite authors ever. This is one of the dream teams I have always wanted to collaborate on a book.

This book was so adorable and so damn funny at times that I laughed out loud with them. It was very character based in my opinion - which personally I love - which enabled you to get very invested in the characters and both of their individual lives.

I just have to say here and now that I adored Ben’s best friend, Dylan. He made me laugh out loud so many times and his character seriously just intrigued me.

That being said, I didn’t really like Arthur most of the time. I found his character to be so annoying and sometimes I wanted to throw my book across the room from how stupid he was being about things. He got jealous and mad over the smallest things ever and most of the time, made absolutely everything about himself which sometimes made Ben feel like rubbish.

I liked the story, it was kind of that story that’s been done before but I did really enjoy the part in which they’re trying to find each other and eventually they do.

I didn’t like the ending, I’m sorry but I will not accept that???

In conclusion, I liked the story, liked the characters but I feel like more could’ve been done to get it out of the cliche stage. It was a bit too much cliche for me.

It was okay, I didn't fall in love with it but it felt a little flat. I like the writers generally but this fluff didn't seem to be fluff for me.

"You start with nothing and maybe end with everything”

* *
2 / 5

I really enjoyed Silvera’s They Both Die At the End and many years ago (before it was cool!) I read and adored Albertalli’s Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. Unfortunately, I didn’t very much like what these two excellent authors created when they worked together. I wanted to love it. I expected to enjoy it. Instead I constantly got mixed up between the main leads, Ben and Arthur, and felt cringed-out rather than captivated by their romance.

"I’m not cool. Take this morning. I made the mistake of glancing up at the sky, just for a moment, and now I can’t unstick my eyes"

Arthur is in New York for the summer, working for his mum’s law firm as an intern. He doesn’t seem to like it much, since he never actually goes to work. Ben is emotionally destroyed after his ex-boyfriend Hudson cheats on him with another guy because he thought they were broken up, and now the two of them have to go to summer school together. Ben and Arthur meet at the post office when Ben is trying to post Hudson’s things back to him.

No question, the beginning was cute. Arthur is adorably touristy, the whole setting has a feel of the absurd, and there’s this sort of deterministic vibe in the hopeful air. Then Ben and Arthur part, without getting each other’s full names or numbers. Arthur engages in what would have probably merited a restraining order level stalking and Ben pines over his ex. Not much happens until they meet again over a hundred pages later.

"I don’t know if we’re in a love story or a story about love"

What I wasn’t fond of at all was how petty most of Ben and Arthur’s romantic tiffs were. Yeah, the two of them have some legitimate complaints – how Arthur disrespects Ben’s Puerto Rican heritage, how Ben is always late for their dates – but everything is so overblown; it felt like the book was trying to create conflict but didn’t manage to find anything meaningful to argue about so blew minor things way out of proportion. I also found the excessive pop culture references and “nerdification” of Ben and Arthur overbearing – yeah, Ben’s self-insert fan fiction was kind of cute and relatable, but I didn’t care about it that much. Neither am I familiar enough with broadway musicals to make the nods to the fandoms enjoyable.

What did I like? It’s weird – I liked the idea of who Ben and Arthur were. Nerds, sweet and sensitive young men who were falling in love, with diverse backgrounds and kooky interests. Every time I caught glimpses of these people it was great, but most of the time I was trying to remember who’s chapter it was and who’s friend was who’s.

There’s too much jealousy, pettiness and miscommunication for this book to hit the mark for me. I’d recommend it to broadway musical lovers and the younger side of YA readers.

My thanks to Netgalley and the authors for an ARC of this book.

Every bit as charming as Love Simon! I devoured this book in one sitting. Adam & Becky wrote the most relatable characters and I love that this book was every bit as wonderful as I hoped!

'What If It's Us' is a really heart warming book. I'm all about Kismet and fate so I was very into the whole universe conspiring thing. There's an honesty in this book, where things don't go to plan with our protagonists which I loved. Alongside that there's the typical cheesy love story feel but that's okay! We all need that once in a while! Arthur's high energy got a bit too much for me towards the end but then again, I guess we needed the contrast in between him and Ben. I couldn't put down this book and loved how wholesome the characters felt.

Overall, I really enjoyed 'What If It's Us'. It was such an easy book to read and what more can you ask for?

his was super cute! I was asked if I'd like to receive a copy of this and obviously I said yes! I absolutely adored Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Off Beat was great and of course, Adam Silvera's History is all you left me did make me weep a little, so I was super excited to be sent a copy of this and see what these two can do together!

 Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third? What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?

Guys, this was so cute. Like, ridiculously cute. I have a thing about romances set in New York, I mean, I have been to New York, so I know that there are bits of the city that smell really bad and look kinda scary, but then there is Broadway and Central Park and Time Square and those are the bits that I think of when it comes to romances set in the city.

Essentially, this is a meet-cute between two boys in a post office and if there was ever a meet-cute that defines meet-cutes this was it. The two authors were able to perfectly work together on this, you couldn't even tell that there were two authors working on this it was so cohesive! And both Arthur and Ben were so well rounded and their personalities were really well presented and of course this was full of fluffy romance and detrimental heartbreak and there is nothing better than a cute romance. It's exactly what I needed in the middle of the ocean! The side characters were amazing, Dylan was the greatest character ever written and this had so much diversity I was loving it!

My only criticism of this would be that there might be one too many pop culture references and I'm saying that as someone who loves a pop culture reference. I mean, one or two mentions of Harry Potter or Hamilton would be fine, but I think Lin Manuel Miranda probably needs royalties for the number of times his name was dropped. Aside from that, I did bloody love this, it was over too quickly and the ending was so bittersweet! Plus, it was nice to read an Adam Silvera book where one of the characters wasn't either dead or about to die!

This is cute. It's an LGBT young adult novel about a boy, Arthur, who meets his soulmate at the post office, and then gets separated and loses him without a name or a phone number.

I thought the two central characters were pretty rounded authentic characters. Arthur is a shy theatre nerd who is a true hopeless romantic. I'm sure a lot of people will be able to relate to his way of thinking. Those thought processes made me laugh, the grandeur of it. When it started spilling into the reality - so when Arthur really sticks his foot in his mouth because of this grand day dreams - is when it started to feel a little cringy. But that was intended (I think!) because it does fit in with the book's way of dealing with reality - which is pretty authentic.

I like Ben's characterisation too. He is Puerto Rican and white passing and the book does spend some time on what means and how it might affect someone. Having someone POC as a main character, and someone who is so realistic in his personality and behaviour was really well done.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I don't know if I'll read it again, just because I think it might have been written for someone maybe on the lower end of YA, but it was still a good read.

DNF at 20%

I'm a bit nervous, because most seem to adore and love What If It's Us. I have enjoyed Albertalli's previous books and read/loved one short story from Silvera. I was so excited for this and went in expecting adorable romance, because that's what all the early reviews were praising the book for. However, I struggled with every page since I started reading this last month, and after battling through twenty percent, I put it down. I haven't been able to pick it up, because I get upset just from thinking about it.

What's my problem with What If It's Us? Everything. Sure, the writing is not bad, but the difference between Ben and Arthur's chapters, especially with the feel of them, is huge. Arthur's chapters feel like silly romantic comedy; there's flashmob proposal, goofing around and stalking a guy he finds attractive. That's actually one of my big problems with the book: Arthur's decision to stalk a person, who might not even be the guy he spoke with. I didn't find it cute, I found it appalling. Not only that, Ben's chapters are as far from romantic comedy feel as one can get. Ben pines after his ex-boyfriend, who Ben dumped, and it's quite extensively pining. I couldn't see how this situation could develop into relationship. When they met, there wasn't really chemistry, and Ben's way too hung up on his ex. It's not something I like to read about, so all of this is a case of it's me, not the book. Sometimes enjoyment doesn't line up with the story and its characters.

After all that, I took a peak how the story ends and it solified my decision to DNF the book. I'm not going to put myself through a story and characters I don't enjoy for such an ambiguous ending. I also really read other reviews, and some indicated that the things I found problematic wouldn't disappear. I don't often DNF books as I like to give them a chance to change my mind, but this time I can't get myself to pick up the book again.

Overall everything just felt so juvenile, which I get, it's contemporary young adult, but the amount of second hand embarrassment I felt every page was something I've never felt before. Simply, this one isn't for me. I guess it's so hard for me to say it and to officially give up, because I had such high expectations and the book is so hyped up.

I really wanted to love this after really enjoying books I have read from these authors previously. I expected an adorable relationship I wanted to root for, which I got. I expected some great friendship groups, which I got. I expected a fun, engaging plot, which I almost got. I'll be honest, I got bored.

I enjoyed the first section of this and then things went downhill for me. I thought the meeting and the search to find each other was a lot of fun to read about and really kept me engaged. However, I just wish that section had lasted longer. Once that part was over I got bored and stopped losing interest in where the story was going. I also started to really dislike one character.

Arthur made me so mad. I didn't have a problem with him to start with, but eventually the way he was acting towards certain situations and the way he was treating Ben sometimes just started to really get on my nerves. I wanted to like him, as I was really rooting for their relationship, but by the end I just didn't.

I liked it, but I didn't fall in love with it. It was an enjoyable read, despite dragging in some parts and making me lose interest. It's clear that Becky and Adam work well together and I definitely think they could write my new favourite book if they were to continue writing together. However, this one just wasn't there for me.

Overall, I can see why others would love it and perhaps this was more a case of 'it's not you, it's me'. If you love previous books by these authors and you're looking for an adorable relationship, great friendships and a more slow paced plot, I would definitely recommend checking it out. I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

A chance meeting has Arthur and Ben cross paths at a New York post office. When they fail to exchange details, both boys go in search of each other. Ben is suffering from a break up which causes him to lose his main friendship group. Arthur is an intern on a limited time frame. Once reunited, they face a ton of near misses and second third fourth chances. But the universe isn't exactly always in their favor.

I feel I am yet to find a favourite within both Becky and Adam's books so far. Both of them have a way of writing that doesn't always work for me. I was hoping with What If It's Us, it would be a significant mash-up of everything I liked from both authors.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I liked What If It’s Us, I enjoyed reading it, but in the end, it just wasn't for me. This book didn't show the qualities that I had appreciated from previous novels.

I  feel a bit guilty for speaking so negatively later on in the review, but there's still a lot to love in this book. The side character, including Ben's best friend, really bought the book together and made it little funnier to read. The diverse cast of characters Arthur is gay and Jewish with ADHD while Ben is gay and Puerto Rican. I enjoy the little conversations about Ben and how painful it is for him and to have his culture erased because he's white passing. There's an intense moment where Arthur says something that crossed a line and Ben rightfully calls him out on it. It's a bit strange and confusing to describe, but I loved many aspects of this book, the concept, the story, I just wasn't a huge fan of how it was all executed.

I really did not like Arthur or Ben. In my opinion, Ben was more likable than Arthur. But I really could not click with either of these two. The biggest critique I have to give is predictability. Knowing what's going to happen can go, either way, you either anticipate the ending you've guessed or found yourself reading at a sluggish pace. While Ben and Arthur have charming moments which I loved, there was no real plot. A couple of things happen, but the rest of it just falls really flat. The initial meeting was sweet and fun, and you expect more to come off from it, but it immediately goes downhill as the authors kind of force the relationship to happen. Given the timeframe the book is set in, Arthur is due to return home at the end of the summer, little really happens, and I was left a little disappointed. Once they've met, it mostly constant pining from them, Arthur over Ben and Ben over his breakup.

They do eventually come together and actually reach the point where they're actually enjoyable to read as a couple. I was disappointed that it doesn't last as long as you'd think. I get everyone hates the ending, but it was the saving point for me. It was quite open, and I understand why everyone would feel frustrated, but it's a better ending. 

I usually have no issues with current day pop references in novels, no matter how outdated it'll read in the future. But what on earth was happening? I stopped reading for a bit because every sentence was Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton. Another popular musical. And then another reference. This does not include a very adorable scene where Arthur and Ben sing along to musicals. My stone cold heartfelt warmth for a moment. But I did feel like the references were simply over saturated. 

Overall, What If It's Us is not exactly a disaster read — and I think despite with my low rating, it has its shining moments. Too slow, and not enough was happening. The in-jokes and references became too much. It just didn't work for me. I won't cross off both authors from TBR because of it, I appreciate the stories they write, but this book wasn't the one for me.

This is so sweet and an absolute dream for any YA lover who is obsessed with musical theatre (as I am...). Funny and heartwarming, I loved the main characters, the side characters, the coffee politics and the romances. A lovely read.

I absolutely loved this book, I have read a both these authors previous books and found that I enjoyed this one the best of both their books. Its that good. TH
They wrote beautiful story about falling in love that somehow that is a little cliché but also adorable, interesting and completely worth the read. I cannot wait to read more from these authors and hope they collaborate on another story someday.

What If It's Us: The Showstopping Contemporary Romance!
*Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

If you’re looking for a sweet contemporary romance, what’s better than a book by Becky Albertalli or a book by Adam Silvera? Well, *put your hands together* because here’s a book by both Albertalli and Silvera!

What I love about both authors is their ability to make me feel all the *feels*- and this book achieved that by the bucketload. From the promised meet cute, I got the impression that this story was going to be super, well, cute. Nay- ADORABLE! There was so many aww moments in this story I couldn’t keep count. All the way through, it made my insides squeeze cos of how sweet it was.

I also loved how quirky and funny it was. The quippy sense of humour and wit had me laughing out loud. And I appreciated the conversational writing style and particularity of the descriptions. It was so fun to get inside each of the main character’s heads.

Of course, this was super character led. Ben and Arthur were so well written that I felt like I was addressing them in my notes as if they were real people. Ben was a little bruised in the romance department, imaginative and somewhat oversensitive. Art- well, he was a little melodramatic, but as one of life’s melodramatic people, I related to him way too much. Actually, I also liked his slightly hyper personality, his spunk, his romantic nature and even got his immaturity. I swear that if Art were real, we’d be best friends 😉

What I liked about the story was how it dealt with romance after the two guys had come out. This wasn’t just another coming out and falling in love story- this was so much more than that. In fact, as previously mentioned, Ben had already been stung before. But that didn’t stop *the universe* bringing the characters together- and tearing them apart. What I liked was that both boys were looking for each other (which drew the line between it feeling stalkery on one side). And the detective work was fun (of course by the end of it I was squealing with glee- see what I meant about being overdramatic 😉 ) Ultimately, though, there were times when the relationship felt a little too tumultuous. And that brings us into the spoilery section…

While the falling in love part was done so well, I did feel like it felt too rocky, which made it hard for me to root for them throughout. As much as I loved the characters, it felt like they were both throwing unnecessary spanners in the works for the sake of drama. That said, what was great was that it didn’t give the typical ending. I spent a huge amount of time worrying that if they simply ended up together it wouldn’t feel totally right and if they didn’t the book would feel like a wasted opportunity… Somehow Albertalli and Silvera struck the perfect balance. The open ending was a stroke of brilliance, since it fitted with the theme of second chances and new beginnings. I liked that they got to throw destiny out of the equation and make their own story.

Okay, spoilers over. What was most surprising about the book was when Art’s friends got together, cos it felt a little out of place. And on the other end of the spectrum, I will admit that Dylan and his future wife did steal the show at some points. There were other “love interests”, like NY, Hamilton, Harry Potter and countless other pop culture references, which I was all over and really added a cool dimension to the story.

Overall, I was completely absorbed with this fun and romantic story- which is why I gave it:

Rating: 4/5 bananas

Now I am actually a little late with this review, cos I thought it might be fun to share the fact that I went to a book talk at the Southbank Centre for this and got a signed copy!!

It was so fun to hear how collaborative the project was- and I especially loved hearing how Becky Albertalli wrote Arthur and Adam Silvera wrote Ben (I guessed correctly!) I really liked hearing how much of them was in each character, particularly cos I’d spent a lot of the book speculating about that!

Also exciting news, this has been optioned to be a movie!! Let’s hope Lin-Manuel Miranda gets to do the soundtrack (one can live and dream, right 😉 )