ARC REVIEW: What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera (Oct 2018)

I guess that’s any relationship. You start with nothing and maybe end with everything.

My synopsis: Arthur is an intern at a high-powered New York law firm, with big dreams and a big future. Ben just went through a bad breakup and to make matters worse, he has to see his ex in summer school. The two meet and sparks fly – but will those sparks only last one summer?

To be published October 9, 2018 by HarperTeen

e-ARC provided by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review

Genre: YA Contemporary, YA Romance, YA Coming-of-Age, YA Romantic Comedy

Themes: LGBT, dating, finding each other, New York, city life, moving on, breakups, Broadway, fandom, writing, fantasy fiction, destiny, fate, the universe, best friends, friendships, bumps in relationships

Amazon* / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

*As an Amazon Associate, I get a mini % of sales price if you purchase an item using my link, thank you!

Before anything else – Fansens, you’re going to love this – the title is inspired by Dear Evan Hansen‘s track “Only Us” and the book (at least, the ARC is!) is actually divided into 4 different sections: What If, It’s Us, And Only Us, and the epilogue, What if it’s you and What if it’s me?

I always thought love was about the showstopper moments. No dialogue, no filler. But if the quiet parts are filler, maybe filler’s underrated.

That said, What If It’s Us is a sure-to-be-loved contemporary romance that immediately starts out with a hilarious meet-cute scene. I literally laughed out loud.

It’s your typical summer romance – Ben is an NYC resident with no big hopes for the future, and Arthur is a promising young man headed to one of the Ivy Leagues. The question is whether they will pursue a romance such as theirs when they well know that they will part ways after the summer, in a few weeks.. then a few days. Then add to that countless Broadway references… countless. I mean, this book have me obsessed with Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton within a few chapters! I wouldn’t quite call myself a full-fledged Hamilfan or Fansen yet, but I’m quite sure I’ll be a pretty easy convert, all I need is to go and watch the shows on Broadway… hopefully some time this year??

Like I said, the romance between Arthur & Ben is pretty straightforward and pretty much what you’d expect from this genre. What I particularly enjoyed is the friendship between Ben and Dylan – they’re best friends and Dylan is so funny and his personality is pretty much a scene-stealer!

Dylan cuddles up next to me and Samantha accepts it because if she’s in this for the long run, this is her new life.

I love friendships like this. It’s so precious. There’s also Arthur’s best friends and his office squad – this story is just overflowing with great friendships, and it’s one of its major themes.

Other than the fact that it totally made me love Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly memorable read, but it’s definitely one you should check out if you’re already a fan of either Becky Albertalli or Adam Silvera – meanwhile, I couldn’t tell which POV was written by whom… if I have to pick, I mostly liked Arthur’s chapters 🙂

Thank you HarperCollins for my review copy!

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Thanks for reading!

BTW, Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers out there – and to your families ❤

Are you planning to read What If It’s Us?

Have you read any books by Becky Albertalli and/or Adam Silvera, and did you like it/them?