What If It's Us

This is peak YA and I have never felt so old as I did when reading this book.

For the most part, I enjoyed it. The pros outweigh the cons (could do with about half as many pop culture references!!) and I think the story, overall, was well done. It's very much an angsty teen rom-com. The ending/epilogue was my favourite - it's very realistic and I'm interested to see what the universe doles out for Ben & Arthur.

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

Book 1: What If It's Us - ⭐⭐⭐
Book 2: Here's to Us - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

WOW!! What a story!! I loved the whole universe aspect of this book and it honestly was such a great love story! Highly recommend :) I really loved how the whole thing started. This whole story could have never happened if they didn't search for each other. I love how real this book felt. Dates aren't perfect. Sometimes we say the wrong things. Some times we do need do-overs. So I love that Arthur and Ben go through these trials and tribulations. There are some heartbreaking moments too though. Romance and friendship isn't perfect. There were points where I was screaming at the pages telling the characters to just listen to each other. It breaks my heart that they didn't stay together but who knows, maybe the universe has other ideas :)
Quotes I loved:
I believe in love at first sight. Fate, the universe, all of it. I just think you're meant to meet some people. I think the universe nudges them into your path. - Pg. 8
"Opening-montage-of-Up sad? Or Nemo's-mom-dying sad" - Pg. 25
But now I feel like I'm auditioning for Broadway with no training and an empty resume. Unprepared and unqualified and totally, totally out of my depth. - Pg. 59
But Arthur? I barely know him. I guess that's any relationship. You start with nothing and maybe end up with everything. - Pg. 148
What it feels like to be wanted by someone who sees you for who you are. How the world - the business of Times Square - can feel like it's falling away when you're with the right person - Pg. 281
"Arthur, the universe just got the ball rolling. We made us happen" - Pg. 405
Arthur, I know you're the one with the grand gestures and no chill. But the truth is, no one deserves a grand gesture more than you. I'm not as creative as you, but this is me going the extra mile. And making you walk an extra mile. I love you - Pg. 411
What if there's a do-over down the line for us? What if we end up in the same city again and pick up where we left off? What if we go as far as we once hoped we would, and boom, happy ending for us? But what if this is it for us? What if we never get to kiss again? What if we're there for each other's big moments, but we aren't at the heart of those big moments anymore? What if the universe always wanted us to meet and stay in each other's lives forever as best friends? What if we rewrite everything we expect from happy endings? Or ... What if we haven't seen the best us yet? - Pg. 433

A perfectly fine book. It just didn't get me there like the authors' individual books have. Adam Silvera is crazy good at twists, to the point where once I was reading one of his books in the bathtub and gasped so loudly at the plot twist, my husband ran in to ask if I had hurt myself. Becky Albertalli makes you believe in the universe connecting in just the right way and getting through the mess-ups. This book had more Albertalli than Silvera and it made me love it less than I thought I would. It was still a perfectly good book. It just left me a little sad that I didn't love it more.

Ben is annoying. ugh.
I like Arthur's chapters best. He's funny.
I was expecting a specific happily ever after, which would have been dumb, but would have made me happy. Instead we got a very realistic ending, which is fine and makes more sense. But I was disappointed it wasn't a more whimsical end.

This book was overall underwhelming. The whole point of the book was to make the “relationship” between Ben and Arthur to work but the end just didn’t make sense. The relationship also felt forced and there was zero chemistry between the characters. In the end this book is pretty much broken friendships and breakups.
I did enjoy Dylan because he’s super funny and awkward at the same time. The representation in the book is also really good and as an immigrant, I could relate to Ben and how he felt about looking white and still being proud of his heritage.