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*I received an ARC of this via NetGalley*The ending of this hit me hard and I did like it a lot. I wish more people had read this so I could talk about it with someone! My biggest "issue" was that the reason Cleo and Layla's friendship ended was used almost like a plot twist? It actually stressed me out that we didn't know why they stopped talking for more than half the book.I felt like it colored my reading experience a lot because I was constantly wondering what made them act like this and whe...
"Losing you wounded me. Probably more than you know. If I hurt you just as deeply, I’m sorry."This was a somewhat refreshing story to read.Refreshing but not memorable, if I have to be honest. It does not happen that often that the focus point of a YA contemporary is not romance, and so when it actually happens you just gotta jump at the occasion and read the damn book.This was indeed a YA contemporary which heavily centered around friendship and what it means to stop being friend with your BFF
Once again, I’ve stayed up til a criminally late hour to finish a book I just couldn’t part with, hiya 3:30AM, how are you? RTC tomorrow morning when I’m equipped with (not enough) sleep and (too much) caffeine.----ALRIGHT, here we go. Am I well rested? No. Will this coffee work miracles? I hope so. Do I regret reading this book in nearly one sitting and foregoing sleep, thereby compromising my cognitive and intellectual abilities for likely the entire day today? No. Not to be corny, but When Yo...
My favorite fiction book of 2020 so far, thank goodness for the year of novels that focus on friendship! We Used to be Friends validated my heartbreak over the close friendships I lost in 2019, and When You Were Everything both validated that heartbreak and pushed me to believe in the power of opening my heart again despite past friendship pains. I feel grateful to Ashley Woodfolk for writing such a nuanced and realistic portrayal of friendship. As someone who has had quite a few intense fri...
I think this book is SO important. I've said it pretty much every time I talk about wanting to read this book, but the loss of friendship is something so prevalent in all stages of life and it's a topic I wish was covered more. This did it perfectly. It offered just the right amount of reconciliation that I hoped for. You got to see a lot of development, growth, and healing from the main character. Friendships end for all sorts of reasons and it's a really hard loss and I think this book covered...
It’s refreshing to read a contemporary YA novel where romance takes a backseat. In When You Were Everything, the focus is on friendship — or more specifically, on the end of friendship.Few things are more traumatic for teen girls that losing a best friend. In When You Were Everything, we witness the pain and sorrow and rage that occurs when besties forever, Cleo and Layla, fall apart.It happens the way these things do. Friends since age twelve, the girls start moving in different directions at t...
I don’t know about you but I’ve never read a book about the breakup of a friendship before. Not one like this. This book cuts deep. I think we’ve probably all experienced the sharp pain of a friendship breakup at some stage in our lives but it’s almost a taboo subject! It’s just never discussed. In my many years shuffling around this mortal coil I’ve had friendships end. I’ve lost many friendships that simply drifted apart. Those ones don’t hurt thankfully. Life, circumstances, whatever... thing...
UPDATE: 01/07/2021 - Reread and review addedCW: (view spoiler)[marriage break-up of parents, mention of inappropriate staff student relationship, emotional cheating, bullying (hide spoiler)]3.5 Stars rounded up to 4Well I may have teared up a little at the end!What a fabulously painful story looking at the slow demise of a friendship. Some parts were so brutal I actually gasped out loud as this once solid pair were torn apart by jealousy, resentment, and revenge. I loved that it was told in a du...
When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfork brought me back to my high school days. It brought out all the feels that those days gave me. When Cleo starts realizing that she might be losing her best friend she begins having a hard time dealing with life. Not only is she losing her best friend but her parents are also separating. This books deals with alternating dates "Then" and "Now" Then talks about how her friendship ended and Now deals with the present day Cleo. I also enjoyed the diversity
If you've ever wanted to read a story about friendship breakups - the messiness, the bitterness, the yearning - then I cannot recommend this splendid book, When You Were Everything, enough.- In alternating timelines between 'Then' and 'Now', this book follows Cleo, a Black teen who has a friendship breakup with her then-best friend, Layla, a Bengali teen with a stutter. - This book. I never knew a book could make you feel so vulnerable and so seen; a book that lays bare the messiness and hurt an...
This book was beautifully written though the pacing was a little slow at times. Cleo and Layla have been best friends for years. But once Layla starts hanging out with the chorus girls she gains a little more confidence and starts hanging out with Cleo less; Not to mention Layla's new friend Sloane doesn't seem to like Cleo at all and turns the other chorus girls against her. And Sloane ends up starting a rumor which really hurts Cleo and her family. While reading it I wanted to judge Cleo for h...
I'm not crying, I'm not crying! This one was great. I was curious towards the end if it was going to be a 3 or 4 star. I really wanted the protagonist to go through a couple of things in order to give it a full 4.5 stars, but the ending really was perfect. I loved what the author did with this story, and I think it covers really beneficial topics for teenagers, specifically teenage girls.
I'm reminded once again why I shouldn't read YA anymore. It's frustrating for everyone involved, especially when you think you're reading a book about a friendship and you're getting pages and pages of how much Cleo wants to lick Dom's collarbone instead, or her ~coincidentally~ deciding to let her friendship with Layla go for good when she and Dom are officially in a relationship; of course it was getting a boyfriend that finally fulfilled her, finding new friends in Sydney and Willa just didn'...
"It's not like it was a relationship," he says, and I frown, annoyed at his reaction. Perhaps he doesn't know how it feels....to break in this particular way. Or perhaps it's different for boys? But girls cling to their friends for dear life as they wade through rough waters of learning who they are while everything around and inside them is changing minute by minute. And aren't we all a little in love with our best friends?" (thank you @randomhousekids for this copy for review consideration)O...
~4.5 stars~Ugh I really wish I’d had this book as a teen. Absolutely incredible. RTC!
A very honest and moving story about a friendship break-up, how to heal and grow from it, still cherish the person and the friendship that was, and make new friends afterwards. As someone who’s also lost very close friends over the years, I connected with Cleo and Layla’s story a lot. I love how a few different types of love (even platonic love between exes) are explored together like they all have value, and the friendship isn’t sidelined for the romantic relationship here. We really need more