I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Love love love this boarding school contemporary YA romance!

First of all, I love a boarding school setting so much. Anything can happen at boarding school! The establishment of the close friendship between Sage and Charlie, plus his twin brother, Nick, gave the story depth from the start. Then it went on to have two secret, fraught romances that I couldn't resist. Everyone expects Sage and Charlie to eventually fall in love since they are so close, but Sage has been secretly hooking up with Nick since an unexpected trist the previous summer. But she doesn't want to have a high school romance like her parents (who divorced) and Charlie will never understand their relationship. Meanwhile, Charlie, who has historically be a bit of a casual hookup ladies man, is suddenly feeling very drawn to new boy on campus, Luke. Their relationship is beautiful and sweet, but must remain secret. What will everyone think if ladies man Charlie is in a relationship with a guy? Will his conservative parents accept him?

This was a romance with depth and beautiful relationships and I loved it all the way through.

If We Were Us has been on my TBR list for several years at this point, and I can't seem to finish it. Sorry! I'm sure people will love it, but it just isn't for me!

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I wanted to love this one because I am here for any book with LGBTQ+ rep, but these characters were borderline stereotypical.

I enjoyed parts of this book a lot! I absolutely loved the storyline between the two boys falling in love and found it deeply endearing. The friends-to-lovers romance between the other boy and the girl felt less developed and a little less mature, so I didn't enjoy it as much. This is a very cute summer read, perfect for teens!

I liked how dishy this book was! A great, fun read with lots of heart and sizzling moments. The tension between characters was really excellent.

<i>“You told me to stay, saying that you didn’t want to be alone, that you couldn’t be alone, and that you feel like you’re always alone…” He paused. “Unless I’m with you.”</i>

This charming contemporary set at a New England boarding school just really worked for me. Yes, it's a romance following two couples and how they intersect and overlap, but what I really loved about it was that the central relationship, and I think the focus of this book, is a friendship. Charlie and Sage are both big personalities and flawed characters, and I loved every second following their friendship and their relationships, tied to each other the whole time, just not in the way everyone at school seems to suspect. Yes, this book is a little over-the-top at times, and it's stressful and frustrating seeing Charlie battle with himself and Sage cover for him, but I think it's messy and real. I'm probably not making any sense because I'm gushing, but I loved this book, and while I understand why others might not, that doesn't make me love it any less.

"I wasn't sure how to be my own person without them and that scared me."

On the outside, If We Were Us looks like the type of book I would be completely into. Dual perspectives of two best friends, living the life at a boarding high school, and both of them falling in love. I mean, that's exactly my type of contemporary romance. This one? It just wasn't well-written, in my opinion.

First, we have Sage. Sage is best friends with Charlie, one of the two Carmichael twins she has known for years on end. See the above quote for her dependence on both Charlie and Nick. Sage and Charlie have always been incredibly close and somehow this also translates to the two of them touching all the time? This part made me cringe a little, to be honest. When Sage talks about touching Charlie's stomach when all their friends are hanging out. Um, no thank you? No one wants to see that. Sage is also hopelessly in love with Charlie's twin, Nick. It's clear from the start that Nick is into her but she won't let them be a couple in public. Everything has to be done in secret because Sage is afraid she's starting her life too early. So let me get this straight: Sage has no problem being handsy with her best friend but she's afraid to date Nick in public? I grew to dislike Sage and I'm not sure that's what the author was going for.

Next, we have Charlie, Sage's best friend. Charlie is known as the playboy around campus. He picks a girl, dates her for 2-3 weeks, and then dumps her while he looks for the next girl. Again, everyone is waiting for Charlie and Sage to announce their love for each other. Little does everyone know that announcement is never going to come because Charlie has a secret: he's gay and he's falling for the new guy, Luke. When Charlie finally gives in to his feelings, he and Luke have to keep it a secret (what is it with Charlie and Sage and their desire for secret relationships?!) because Charlie can't bear the thought of anyone finding out he's actually gay. Sage figures out what's going on pretty quickly because she's well, Sage. Charlie and Luke seem to be figuring things out and doing ok at keeping things secret until Luke finally snaps and breaks things off with Charlie unless Charlie can get the nerve to tell everyone he's gay.

I don't love that there was a forced outing on Luke's behalf. I actually really liked Luke as a character up until this point. From there, there wasn't much left of the book so there wasn't a lot of space for Luke to redeem himself. I get wanting to have your relationship out in the open, but it isn't fair to force someone to share their sexuality when they aren't necessarily ready to. This was a really shitty move on Luke's part and it kind of ruined his character for me. Sage never redeemed herself. She played the victim when she was with Nick and they had to hide it and then Sage continued to play the victim when Nick dumped her because she wouldn't date him publically. None of the characters were all that likable. I actually kept reading this book because it was like watching a dumpster fire erupt and I couldn't look away. There are much better young adult contemporary novels out there and my suggestion is you read one of those instead of wasting your time on this one.

TW: Eating disorder, homophobia (internalized), forced outing

**Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard this pitched as "Becky Albertalli meets Morgan Marson," my curiosity was instantly piqued. I'm a HUGE fan of both authors, and so I knew I had to give this book a shot!

And... it was good! Not perfect, but good nonetheless.

Admittedly, the alternating perspectives -- though necessary for the plot, the overarching concept, and their progression -- provided a few issues, as the lead characters were written in an extremely similar manner, to the point where it became difficult to remember which character was which (and whose perspective we were reading at the time).

Still, I'm always one for "prestigious-school" storylines, and the romances were cute, so ultimately, it was definitely enjoyable!

This one wasn't for me and unfortunately was a DNF. I couldn't get into the story and the writing style wasn't very smooth, so I had a hard time falling into a rythm.

When I read YA this is exactly how I want it to be, authentic and a little emotional with lots of feels and a little angst. Really liked the authors style and hope to read more in the future.

This book had potential, unfortunately it wasn't right for me. I couldn't get into the pacing and the characters just weren't clicking. For the right person I think this could be a fun read, I am not that person.

I really wanted to like this one, but gave up after the first fifty pages. It has alternating chapters POV but I couldn’t keep track of who I was reading. Then the whole concept of Bexley was confusing and I just didn’t care to keep reading.

This book didn’t grab me. I tried to start it several times but my mind wandered and I wasn’t able to get into it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this a lot! It was well written and easy to read.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

This is a very diverse and fun book of romance and friendship. It's full of YA tropes, but those are perfect for my students. It's right up the alley for 8-10 grades!

I could not get into this. DNFed about 30% in. It had almost every trope I hate in a YA book and I did not think it was worth putting myself through the entire thing. Pass.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A hard-hitting LGBTQIA+ coming of age contemporary romance about two best friends discovering what it means to be in love.

Probably more of a 3.75 for me (when will Goodreads allow us to express how we REALLY feel?). 3-3.5 stars feels too low, but a full 4 seems far too high. I wanted to love this a bit more than I did. I swooned over a lot of the relationships, but there were also some really toxic behaviors in here that were never corrected or acknowledged. I also wish the main two characters, Sage and Charlie, were both a little bit more fleshed out. I understand this is a YA revolving around teenagers, but the intense miscommunication that could have solved nearly every single problem within the story was nothing but excessive and annoying. I can assure even most teenagers are not that bad at communication. Overall, I just wanted a bit more from the story and characters. I enjoyed my time reading and read a majority of it in just two days' time, but I didn't connect with it the way I do most hard-hitting contemporaries.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an Advanced Readers Copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*