If We Were Us by K.L. Walther
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Special thanks to Raincoast Books for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Everyone at the prestigious Bexley School believes that Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael are meant to be….that it’s just a matter of time until they realize that they are actually in love.
When Luke Morrissey shows up on the Bexley campus his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to steal away to spend time with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick.
But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that things with Nick are getting too serious too quickly. The duo will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
This book caught my eye from the second I saw it. It also is the best romance novel I have read so far.
The plot of this novel was phenomenal. The book had not only 1 but 2 epic love stories. The writing was amazing, and it gave me a good feel of the book; however, one thing the author could have included was Charlie’s coming out. Most of the book was about Charlie learning how to embrace himself, but I was disappointed the author did not include Charlie’s coming out story; I was really looking forward to reading about that. Other than this, the writing was beautiful, the story flowed together, and there were barely any loose ends at the end.
Charlie Carmichael’s character development was outstanding. At the start of the book, he was oppressing his sexuality and dating multiple females to “fix” himself and to deny the fact that he is attracted to men. He was denying himself even when he had a boyfriend; he could not completely accept himself. Near the end of the book, he finally comes to term with who he is. He comes out to the entire school and his family so he can be with the boy he loves. Sage Morgan (Charlie’s best friend) was terrified of commitment and love at the beginning of the novel, but a few chapters in she was slowly starting to fall for Nick. By the end of the book, she was not afraid to love and be committed to someone. I don’t know about you, but I call that fantastic development!
One thing I enjoyed was the diversity of sexual orientation and the way the author wrote about the struggles Charlie was facing about himself. A reason why I chose to read this novel was because of that. I’m going through similar issues and reading about other people who have gone through, or are going through it always makes me feel better, even if it’s about a fictional character. Reading about people with similar issues as mine makes me believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that everything will eventually get better.
The 2 main relationships were extremely complicated at the start: they switched between being together and breaking up a few times, so if you do not like reading about on-and-off-again relationships, this book is not for you. Sage and Nick’s relationship was toxic in the beginning because Sage was just using him and hiding their relationship, but she soon realised what she was doing was wrong and changed. Luke and Charlie’s relationship was sort of similar to Nick and Sage’s. Charlie was hiding his relationship from everyone because he was afraid. This didn’t mean that their relationship was toxic but it also isn’t the best thing to do.
I recommend this book for readers who enjoy high school love stories, drama, and LGBTQ+ representation.
Reviewed by Nina N.