5 out of 5! Fantastic storytelling, character development and world building.
A friends to lovers YA novel with complex characters, difficult though relevant subject matter many could find relatable and at the same time triggering, and a storyline that unassumingly pulls you in and has you turning page, after page, after page. This was my first book by Anna Benoit and after reading "When We Were Young" I will most definitely be picking up more of her books in the future. Fantastic storytelling, character development and world building.

Title: When We Were Young
Author: Anna Benoit
My Rating: 4 Stars

What it's about:
This comes straight from goodreads, because I could never sum up this story on my own: “Livvy and Jack are nothing alike. Livvy is the courteous, studious daughter of two jet-setting professors; Jack is an angry transplant with a criminal record. 

But Livvy’s life isn’t as easy as it seems. Unbeknownst to most, Livvy spends most of her time avoiding Luke—her overbearing, manipulative boyfriend of six years. Even though she knows she needs a change, she’s terrified to make it, so she resigns herself to a miserable senior year of high school. 

Jack is new to town. Originally from Philadelphia, he is ordered to live with his biological father, David, after committing a heinous crime. Having only met David a handful of times, Jack is furious about the move… until he meets Delia, a rebellious bombshell who instantly attracts him with her risky lifestyle. 

When David decides to take in Livvy after her parents surprise her with a permanent move, Jack is forced to befriend her. Quickly, the two discover they have more in common than they originally thought. 

As the year erupts with heartbreak and tragedy, Livvy and Jack must find a way to keep their delicate bond from being swept away into the turmoil.”

What I liked:

This story tackled so many issues. It wasn’t a feel good contemporary. It was real, hard hitting, dragging out emotions you didn’t know you had contemporary. There is so much going in this story, I felt it a little daunting in the beginning, but it was well worth it. I speed through once I got started, and found myself invested in the characters lives. It tackles tough issues, such as rape, drugs, violence, and bullying.

What I disliked:

I have 2 complaints about this book. One, there were so many characters to keep straight. So many. Two, the title: When We Were Young, gives the impression that maybe this story is being told by an older person, reminiscing on their life. I expected to see a glimpse of our characters far into the future at the end of the book. That doesn’t happen, and its a little misleading. Not enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the story, however.

Overview:

I was very surprised to find out that this was a self-published novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and I can see so many more stories about the side characters being published. (I want to know more about Jack’s childhood adventures in foster care. I want to here more about Rob and time in and out of jail, and his dysfunctional family life.) I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Overall I enjoyed this book, however I felt the pacing was a tad slow, and then you get hit with a rushed ending. There was too many characters to keep track of everyone easily. Things I liked about this book was that it DID tackle real world issues and you see just how people cope with them. Aside from the slow reading, the writing was really well done. It was very smooth and fluid. 

The plot itself kept me invested and I found myself wanting to know what would happen. While this was not a one click read, I still would recommend it. 4 stars from me.Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

A friends to lovers story which is not my favourite trope but this book made me fall in love with these complex and interesting for me this book was such a page turning as I could hardly put it down and I really want to read more from this author.

I liked this book due to the fact that the issues covered in the story are happening to people out there. Some scenes may be disturbing for some, but that's what makes it seem real. I was frustrated with some of the characters attitudes, how they were blinded by people's cover-ups and only seeing what they wanted to see, believing what they wanted to believe. I liked how the characters realised the importance of sticking with the people who appreciates you no matter what.


Thank you for letting me give my review!

When We Were Young is an excellent and gut smacking novel reaching deeply into teen angst, emotions, insecurities and problems. The two main characters Jack and Livvy both that have their senior year of high school filled with too many complications. For Jack, he has been thrown into a life with a father her never knew after a fight leads to probation and banishment from his home town. He is a seething ball of anger trying to cope as best he can with the limited tools he has. Livvy has absentee parents and a myriad of problems, not surface teenager problems but manipulating boyfriend boxing her in problems. She and Jack for a loose/tight bond threatened by the forces in their lives and constantly pushing and pulling them apart.

I liked this book since the issues covered in the story are happening to people out there. Some scenes may be disturbing for some, but that's what makes it seem real. I was frustrated with some of the characters attitudes, how they were blinded by people's cover-ups and only seeing what they wanted to see, believing what they wanted to believe. I liked how the characters realised the importance of sticking with the people who appreciates you no matter what.

I would like to thank NetGalley for a chance to review this great story.

Lizzy and Jack are neighbors. Each have their own friends and their own problems. Lizzy has parents that just basically abandon her and expect her to live with her neighbor as they travel the world. She stays with David, Jack's father in some nights, but on most nights she stays alone in her own house. Her boyfriend Luke is obsessive and abusive to her, both emotionally and physically. His latest abuse centers around sexual abuse. She withdraws and figures she can do nothing about it.

Jack is living with his father David. He didn't even know David was his father until recently. Jack is on probation because of his anger issues. When angry he is uncontrollable.
Jack and Lizzy find each other and first become friends and are able to confuse in each other. Friendship turns into love.

Luke does not want to lose his control over Lizzy and he shows up and tries to strangle Lizzy. Jack finds this situation and tears into Luke. This breaks his probation and he is sent to jail. Lizzy waits for Jack and they move to New York.

This book is good for older students. It was very good. It left me wondering about the next steps for Lizzy and Jack. Where will they go? What will happen with them? Will Jack be able to get control of his anger.

Although some of the situations were unrealistic (who abandons their female teenager to stay with a male adult neighbor!!!), the characters were interesting and believable and the story moved at a good pace. Good effort for a debut novel.

When we were young ⭐️

At first I thought that this was just another chessy contemporary but within a character we see drama and unlying darkness and it pulled me into the story.
Livvy and David have known each other a long. Who neither of them know really well is Davids long lost son Jack. He is a delinquent and not the best of influences but David wants to build a relationship with his son and Livy wants to be a part of David life so you got to get along with Jack even if he has a demon hiding inside (but figuratively, not really).


Thank you so much to booksgosocial via netgalley for sending me an ARC copy of When We were young by Anna Benoit. This will be released on May 30,2017.
All opinions are my own.

This book felt so suffocating, so realistic from the first chapter that it scared me quite a bit. It hit very close to home; the boyfriend being a total dick and the girlfriend not being able to get out of that relationship.
With all that being said and having read the book, I felt positively surprised by how often this book gave me the chills.. the characters are well built, the abusive relationships are realistic A-F and let’s not forget about their damn parents..

This would be a good read for people who are maybe a little gullible and easier to get into one of those kind relationships..

I would recommend this book. Although I normally dont pick this gene most time, I was very surprised how it gripped me from the begining to the end. I love how it deals with alot of issues the young teenagers deal with now. Great Book!

Really enjoyed this book - read it on the beach and it kept me entertained to the point of sunburn! I qpild recommend this to those who.also indulge in YA as a pleasure, guilty or otherwise.

To be honest this was another book I debated. I'm glad I chose it. Even though it is a YA book, there are real issues that are happening these days. A little dark of a book. It drama filled and I usually dont pick books like this. This book had me from the get go.

Omgosh. What to say about this story. It made me laugh, cry, and laugh some more. The brutal honesty of the characters was very well written. Livvy’s story is one I could relate to, on a personal level. I shed many a tear for her as the story progressed.

The characters were all amazing, and I felt like they were my friends. I fell a wee bit in love with Jack & Livvy. As well as David & Zach.

David was thrown into a situation that he wasn’t expecting . I think being there for Livvy, previously, helped him deal with Jack. Jack’s resentment was not without reason, either.. David & Javk developed a strong, relationship by the end.

Livvy’s parents should not have tried so hard to escape Livvy and run from the past. They were neglectful and very opinionated in a negative way.

Zach did his best to help Jack & Livvy both, through each of their issues. He was there for them, individually, when they needed him.

I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Disclaimer: I was given a free advance copy from NetGalley in return for my honest review

This was an amazing read. I love stories like this and I really felt for her as a survivor. I felt a real connection with the characters in the story and I want to know what happens to them.

Amazing storytelling in this YA novel.

We all have things in our past that scar us. Livvy appears to have a perfect life. But, that's just her keeping up appearances in the community.

When Jack moves in next door, she realizes just how unhappy she is and that she feels more 'her' when around Jack.

The novel takes you through their extremely bumpy senior year of high school with an ending that speaks of hope and the ability to heal those wounds..

This deals a lot with domestic abuse as the main character, Livvy ends up being in a relationship with a guy she has dated for a long time. Throughout their break ups and make ups, Luke, her boyfriend changes and abuses her emotionally, physically and sexually. He becomes a person to hold something against Livvy so she won't end the relationship. From the start of the book, we also meet Jack who is someone new to Livvy and who also is living with his dad after going through some very hard times that ended him with probation. I always believed Jack and Livvy were meant to be since the first night they hung out that they both fell asleep on a hammock. It wasn't until the end of the book that they got together as they both were dating other people throughout the book and it wasn't their time yet.



One of things that made me so mad was Luke and how much privilege and power he had to manipulate things to go his way. The sad thing about this is that people like him do exist and some get away with it while others get what they deserve. I know a lot of people will say that Livvy was just not smart enough to get out of the relationship, but let's be realistic here. There are many people who go through abuse and can't get out, especially for those who are with someone who is manipulative, making it seem like they aren't a victim of anything and deserve to be punished.

While this book deals with difficult subjects, it was a tough read. I know that stuff like this happens all the time, and I think that is what makes it such a tough read. I do think the heroine was a tad bit of a doormat, however I know there are women and girls that get abused everyday, and they don't speak up, they forgive and they stay, that is why it's called a vicious cycle. I think with this book you will either love it, or you will hate it. There really isn't a middle ground here. I do think though that it was a good first book from this author, I would like to see what else she has in the future.

I loved this book!!! It sucked me in and I had to read the entire book in one sitting because I had to know how it ended and what happened to Livvy and Jack. The situations shown in the book felt really realistic, and the characters were well written and incredibly complex. The plot itself was slightly predictable, though I kept second guessing how I thought it would end. I did find the ending to be really weak, and I found it really disappointing because it felt really rushed.

This was so precious! I loved Livvy and Jack, they were both so broken and troubled but so desperate to be accepted and okay. I'll admit, the story dragged a bit at times but I still really enjoyed it.