Amazon Prime Day - 48 Hour Flash Sale - Up To 50% Off (Sale Includes All New Releases)

0

Hours

0

Minutes

0

Seconds
logo

Teen Young Adult

By Self Publishing Titans
If He Had Been with Me

If He Had Been with Me

by Laura Nowlin

4.2 (45823 ratings)
Teen Young Adult

Published

November 1, 2019

Pages

400 pages

Language

English

Publisher

Sourcebooks Fire

Available Formats & Prices

View on Amazon

Hardcover

$20.79

Paperback

$7.27

Audiobook

$0.00

Audio CD

Not found

About This Book

More than ONE MILLION copies sold! A BookTok Viral Sensation #1 New York Times Bestseller A USA TODAY Bestseller An achingly authentic and raw portrait of love, regret, and the life-altering impact of the relationships we hold closest to us, this YA romance bestseller is perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover, Jenny Han, and Lynn Painter. If he had been with me, everything would have been different… Autumn and Finn used to be inseparable.

But then something changed. Or they changed. Now, they do their best to ignore each other.

Autumn has her boyfriend Jamie, and her close-knit group of friends. And Finn has become that boy at school, the one everyone wants to be around. That still doesn't stop the way Autumn feels every time she and Finn cross paths, and the growing, nagging thought that maybe things could have been different.

Maybe they should be together. But come August, things will change forever. And as time passes, Autumn will be forced to confront how else life might have been different if they had never parted ways… Captivating and heartbreaking, If He Had Been with Me is perfect for readers looking for: Contemporary teen romance books Unputdownable & bingeworthy novels Complex emotional YA stories TikTok Books Jenny Han fans Colleen Hoover fans

Introduction

As they navigate the trials of high school and adolescence, Autumn and Finny have always been intertwined by more than just their shared childhood history. Through stolen moments and profound silences, a deeply poignant connection underscores their friendship. In "If He Had Been with Me," destiny and choices intertwine, creating an evocative story that captures the intoxicating essence of young love and the powerful lingering of what might have been.

Key Takeaways

A touching exploration of the dynamics of young love and friendship set against a backdrop of life's unpredictable twists. A beautifully written narrative that examines the bittersweet nature of missed opportunities and unspoken feelings. Explores themes of love longing and the paths not taken through a richly detailed and emotionally resonant story.

Detailed Description

Autumn and Finny's lives have been a dance of proximity and distance, sharing a profound bond from childhood through teenage years. Their unspoken connection intensifies life's ordinary moments, creating tension between reality and dreams. They navigate heartaches and hopes deeply rooted in both personal choices and the unpredictable turns of fate.

The story weaves their past and present, revealing moments where friendship blurs into love and regret. Autumn's introspection and yearning are threaded with the universal theme of 'what if', compelling readers to reflect on their own choices. The vividness of character emotions and unpredictable turns in the narrative invite readers to lose themselves in the mesmerizing tapestry of ordinary lives forged by decisions and chance.

As delicate fibers of longing and loss interweave, readers find themselves rooting for both destiny's plans and human desires.

Standout Features

The novel's aptitude for illustrating complex emotional landscapes makes it a memorable exploration of human connections Its capacity to make readers question their what-ifs elevates the emotional depth of the story By juxtaposing the simplicity of everyday life with powerful emotional undercurrents the book crafts an authentic reflection on relationships Its ability to render silent moments as eloquent as conversations sets it apart Written with an evocative style that brilliantly captures the intricacies of youthful emotion this book resonates deeply encouraging a profound contemplation of love's enduring impact on life's course.

Book Details

ISBN-10:

1728205484

ISBN-13:

978-1728205489

Dimensions:

5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Weight:

14.1 ounces

Specifications

Pages:400 pages
Language:English
Published:November 1, 2019
Publisher:Sourcebooks Fire
Authors:Laura Nowlin

Rating

4.2

Based on 45823 ratings

Customer Reviews

The last chapter felt rushed.

Verified Purchase
Roz
August 18, 2024

I wish there was more to the last chapter. The end was kind of confusing. And by the end, I mean the last two chapters. It was such a wonderful book and the ending was kind of like, “what, this is it?”

Wow!!

Verified Purchase
Courtney
September 1, 2024

This book came in perfect unused condition. I won't write any spoilers but I was not expecting what happened. I am not an easy person to make cry, at all, and although this book did not make me shed tears it did give me a big ol' punch to the heart and gut. Enough to turn around and immediately buy book 2. Such a good read!

Just confused

Verified Purchase
Momma3
August 20, 2024

SOME SPOILERS: I liked it but didn’t love it. The ending just pissed me off honestly and now you have to read the second part to understand more. I hate when books do this. I’m giving it 3 starts and maybe feel 2.5. I don’t understand why people have to kill off the main character get the other main character pregnant and go oh by the way read part 2! It’s frustrating and angers. I honestly don’t know if I’ll read part 2, the book was good but not great. I have so many words to how I feel I guess overall disappointed. I had more hopes than it’s worth.

I fell in love with this book

Verified Purchase
Brittany Shanahan
June 26, 2013

Finn and Autumn were the best of friends until middle school. That's when they seemed to grow apart. Finn was with the popular crowd and Autumn was with the not-so-popular crowd. Their moms were still friends and they were still neighbors, so they saw each other most days. Autumn has Jaime now and they have been going out for practically forever. So what if she feels a pang in her chest when she looks at Finn. She's happy with her new friends and her new life...right? Love this book. This will most likely be my favorite for the year. Laura Nowling just gets it. Everything is just completely brilliant in this novel. The characters are totally great and the story is heartbreaking and just so honest. "I want to savour this wonder, this happening of loving a book and reading it for the first time, because the first time is always the best, and I will never read this book for the first time ever again." She also totally gets being a reader. It always draws me into the book when the character is a big reader too. Finn and Autumn were the best characters. I always wanted a friend like Finn. I wanted that kind of easy friendship where the line between two people is blurred. It was devastating to me to see them not together. I could feel the pull in Autumn's chest each time she saw Finn. Even though she was happy with her other friends and Jaime, she wasn't as happy as she could be. Her heart still wanted more. It crazy how such a small little thing could drive people apart without them even realizing why. A simple miscommunication and two lives are left incomplete. It's awful, but I'm sure it happens all the time. Jaime was an okay character. I think I loved Finn too much to really give Jaime a chance. It seemed a little bit mean at times, but nothing too bad. He just wasn't a good fit for Autumn's eccentricity. Their little group seemed to function like any group of friends and they all seemed to work okay together. The only bit that I wasn't crazy about is when we read Autumn's story that she wrote. She was supposedly this really wonderful author, but the story was fairly juvenile. It wasn't bad it was just kind of basic and plain. This book is everything I want my realistic fiction to be. Just beautiful and honest. I knew how it was going to end early one, you kind of know from the first few pages. Regardless, you are still wishing and hoping that the outcome isn't what it seems to be. It was awful in a good way--in a I don't ever want this book to end kind of way. It made me laugh, it made me bawl my eyes out, it made my chest hurt and it made me close the book and immediately want to pick it up and start from the very beginning. It made me feel everything as if it was my own story. First Line: "I wasn't with Finny on that August night, but my imagination has burned the scene in my mind so that it feels like a memory." Favorite Lines: "No one is perfect." "'I think we're supposed to experience as much beauty as we can.'" "The icy wind burns through my gloves and my fingers ache until they fall numb and silent." "I can feel them in my mouth like three smooth pebbles."

Wild train wreck…but in a good way!

Verified Purchase
CharlotteReader
April 7, 2024

4-4.5 stars for me…. You ever read a book where you knew you were going to be left brokenhearted, but you kept going anyway? Yep, this book is one of them. From the moment I started the first chapter until the very end, I knew I was in for a wild ride, a train wreck even, but the anticipation kept me going, even hoping for a different outcome. I love angst-filled tortured lovers type book…it’s what I seek for…I don’t always care for the cheesy fluffy HEA…the more a book makes my chest ache, the better. So why the 4 star rating? I’ll start off with the good: I’m a fan of single POV books. I love the mystery of only having one side of the story and having to guess what the other is feeling. I loved the overall storyline and I thought the author did a fantastic job capturing the realness of what teenagers go through in high school from experiencing your first love, first heartbreak, the cliques and friendships that you form along the way. It didn’t feel cheesy as I find with most YA books, and I think a lot of that had to do with the writing style which can be choppy and short at times, but concise and to the point. For this book, I thought that type of writing style worked. I hate YA books with over the top cattiness, cliche lines, or drawn out sentences. I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes at all, as I do with most YA books, and I think that had to do the main character Autumn - she was relatable and likable. Yes she was awkward, but weren’t we all in high school, trying to stand out or be different, trying to find ourselves? Having said all that: The story did start off slow and at times, I wasn’t even sure if Finn would become a major part of the story. Autumn and Finn had many encounters sprinkled throughout the first half of the book, but their interaction left me wanting more…more angst, more longing looks, just more. At times, it felt like their encounters were so brief that you weren’t sure if it meant anything. There were lots of times when they would sit on the couch and watch TV, and then the very next paragraph it would suddenly jump into something else. I wish the author would have followed up their interaction/encounter with a longing stare, a subtle touch, maybe an awkward conversation. Also, although I liked the choppy sentences, I felt at times the story jumped around too often with no transition/explanations in between events. Overall though, it was still a great read…one that took me out of a reading slump after back to back DNF. If you love the rip your heart out kind of books, this one won’t disappoint!

intriguing

Verified Purchase
Tula Sherman
August 20, 2024

my friend recommended me this book, and at that time i was in the middle of reading icebreaker (dont ask🌚) so i kind of forgot that she recommended it. and once i finished icebreaker i decided i should give this book a try. THANK EVERYTHING I DID. normally im a slow reader (icebreaker is 400 pages and it took me 5 months to read), but this book is around 400 pages and i kid you not, it took me 2-3 weeks to finish. im sure if i sat down with no distractions i could read it in a day with how good it was. theres moments of chemistry between the 2 characters that for some time of the book is super rare and its so good. the book also makes me feel a certain way when i read it and i love it. would recommend!!