What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli

Rating: 4.3 stars

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What If It’s Us is a YA novel written by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli. I think this book was extremely similar to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Love, Simon), which would make a lot of sense since that was also written by Becky Albertalli. I feel like both Albertalli and Silvera are extremely talented YA novelists and can understand and fabricate what teens/tweens want in a story. So when I found out that this was a book written by both of them together, I knew I had to read it.

What If It’s Us is a feel-good story about acceptance and love that highlights a lot of modern-day issues through the story of two seventeen-year-olds named Arthur and Ben. One of the things I admired while reading this book was that even though it highlighted a ton of modern-day issues, it didn’t get too intense, or didn’t become heavy-reading at any point in time. It stayed light almost the whole book, and never got too serious or weighty. As I mentioned before, What If It’s Us follows the story of two seventeen-year-olds, Arthur and Ben. Arthur is a Jewish, care-free, broadway-loving (especially hamilton) guy with ADHD, who is visiting New York for the first time, for his Yale interview. Ben, on the other hand, is a native in New York, who’s recovering from a harsh breakup with his boyfriend, and is forced to attend summer school. Although the characters have two distinct personalities, you fall in love with both of them. Having said that, it’s not only the two protagonists you fall in love with, but it’s also the people surrounding them. The supportive parents, the quirky friends, the realness in which the scenario takes place, the honest depictions of Ben, and Arthur’s blossoming relationship. In this book, you don’t know what to expect, you have no idea what exactly is going to happen next. The ending is completely unpredictable, and although you would expect a clear-cut, Disney-type ending, it’s far from that. The ending of this book made it so much more realistic, and though you would expect to feel sorrow or remorse, it gives you a sense of completion and denouement.

A lot of people would say that some characters were too quirky, or the dialogues, and actions had way too many pop culture references. However, I feel like, without the quirkiness and pop culture references, it wouldn’t be very realistic, and those references are what makes them relatable teens. Although there are a lot of books with a similar theme, and similar messages, this book has a unique storyline and unique sub-plots. As I mentioned earlier, it’s not only the two protagonists that make this book extraordinary. Each of the supporting characters has a distinct personality, and even though you wouldn’t pay as much attention to them, every little detail about identities is mentioned, creating a sense of individualism for every character, no matter how big their role. That’s one of the reasons I love this book. The amount of detail given to every small thing helps you create vivid imagery in your mind.

Even though some people might not like the storyline (because of personal genre preferences), they can’t deny it’s written flawlessly.