What if it’s Us
What If It’s Us by Becky Abertali (author of Simon and the Homosapien Agenda) and Adam Silvera (author of They Both Die in the End) came together to create a new YA book that will delight as well as disappoint in the simple story of two teens finding love and finding themselves.
Our two main characters, Arthur and Ben, come from two very different lives in the Big Apple and yet manage to find each other in the twisted pathways of life thanks to some luck, some stalking, and perhaps a dash of fate. Arthur, a high schooler only in New York for the summer, is here to do work for his mother’s internship and perhaps check out some ivy league colleges.
Ben, meanwhile, a Puerto-Rico-American has a very different experience of life concerning colleges and his future education as he’s currently dealing with being dumped and having to go to summer school with his ex-boyfriend.
In a weird twist of fate, both Arthur and Ben run into each other inside a post office and through much effort on Arthur’s part, they find each other again and go on a date. And then another first date. Then another, another, another. Until they’ve gone on multiple first dates and learn about each other’s lives, quirks, and interests.
Arthur is obsessed with Hamilton and is struggling with his male best friend after coming out as gay back home whilst Ben writes his own insert fantasy story in his spare time of showing Arthur around the “true” New York and not just the Upper East Side and the Statue of Liberty.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, and it wasn’t bad per say, but it also wasn’t amazing. Actually, the book is quite forgettable. I honestly forgot that I read this, which is odd concerning the prestige and fame surrounding the two authors who collaborated to make it.
Usually, Abertali excels at making normal life situations into the most beautiful and memorable moments of life (with an added dash of humor) while Silvera is good at creating tragic worlds and having diverse, characters often of a minority status.
You would think that these two coming together would create a spectacular splendor of combinations, perspectives, humors, and lifestyles, but it just comes across as…bland. I would say more about the book, but there really isn’t much more to say.
It’s about two boys who have a summer to fall in love and they don’t, not really, but they do create a relationship that will last into their college years and even while Arthur is off in California hooking up with frat guys, he’ll always remember his first, Ben, and the summer they spent together in New York City.
Recommendation: If you’re looking for a downright life-changing read that will tingle your toes and frazzle your mind and make your heart race, this is not it. This is a simple, albeit pleasant read that will pass the time you have to wait in the terminal at the airport or at the line at Starbucks. If you’re looking for life-changing, read Autoboyography, or you know, Harry Potter, otherwise this is best left for those boring moments where you can’t use your phone and you have nothing else to do.
Score: 6/10
