Here’s To Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera Book Review

Let me put this out there first; everyone in this book is a sweetheart. So if you are looking for a very down-to-earth book, this is it. But of course read What If It’s Us first. But then you might need a breather before this one. Cause these are loooooong romance books.

Two years ago, in the first book, What If It’s Us, Ben & Arthur met up in New York; Arthur was only there for the summer, and Ben, who does live there, was carrying a bag of his ex-boyfriend’s things to the post office. They saw each other, they lost each other, they reunited, and they began a relationship. It was the most special thing in the world. Ben was an aspiring author and Arthur wanted to make it into the Broadway business, not necessarily as an actor but anything that would have him. Then Arthur had to move back home and they decided to end things. The ending disappointed them, as well as me. But that’s life.

What’s also life is them running into each other again. In these two years, they’ve stayed social media friends but have distanced themselves. Especially since both of them have new boyfriends. I mean, Arthur certainly does, a lovely guy named Mikey. And Ben has a close mate and they haven’t made it official yet, but they might as well be. His name’s Mario and he’s an aspiring screenwriter Ben met through his college class.

Ben is working in his dad’s pharmacy, doing his best to find time to edit his book, The Wicked Wizard War, juicing it up for agents and publication. If he’s ever able to change it to how he wants. Arthur has landed a dream gig as the assistant for the director’s assistant for a big Broadway play, and this is a director Arthur has looked up to for a long time. 

I will say the book is kind of familiar. And, as I said, it’s kind of long. What it is is Ben & Arthur figuring out what they want out of life, and they’re not doing anything sensational to keep us turning the pages. But I like all of these people. They feel just like my friends. I liked how they were reaching for their dreams. I liked Dylan and Samantha and what happens with them as side characters. I liked Jessie’s encouraging-friend arc towards Arthur. It’s a book that’s, put plainly, likeable. And after the toxic relationship in Darkhearts, it was good to have something pure and healthy like this.

I was going to give this 3 and a half stars, but the ending brought it up to 4. Because it goes a little farther than I expected the book to go, but not how you think. The ending staples so much of what the two books had been building up to, and I know it sounds kind of lame, but it can really make one hopeful for romance and progressing towards your dreams. Sometimes someone who’s been betrayed in romance and life – someone like me – needs a bit of a reminder of the good in the world.

My grade: 4 stars out of five