“If he had been with me” by Laura Nowlin was a book I really enjoyed and found hard to put down. It was a romantic story which made readers wonder what was going to happen next. I found it relatable because as these teens go through high school, so am I and I saw similarities in the main character, Autumn's freshman year of high school and mine. The author, Laura Nowlin did an amazing job of taking the readers through a highschool experience that was quite realistic. It was very well written and was paced very well. In my opinion, if you're a fan of love stories and romantic books, this is the book for you. I also feel as if Laura demonstrated the theme of following your dreams very well. She used Autumn overthinking and daily interactions to show how hesitant someone can be towards the beginning of something but if you just do what makes you happy, it will all work out. Autumn struggles with many things anyone could struggle with and this could be something readers read for relief and to feel like someone understands what they are going through. This book hits topics such a depression, suicidal thoughts, romantic love, and much more. For instance, this is seen when Autumn experiences what could be known as “seasonal depression” where she feels as if she cannot get out of bed or do daily tasks in certain times of the year, mostly winter. This is a very relatable topic that many teens go through. Laura Nowlin’s way of writing as if she's a teenage girl is very accurate. She really steps into Autumn’s life with all of her friends and lovers and illustrates it so wonderfully. In my opinion, this is a very family, friend oriented book where each character is close to one another. That is something I liked about this book, the connection between everyone is just very close knitted. Between Autumn and Phineas’ family, there was a great connection between them and it showed just how close they were. Overall, I thought this was brilliantly written and a great read. It was a great love story that made you want to get to the end to see what happens.
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