What If It’s Us is a love-at-first-sight type of story, where Arthur, a visiting boy from Georgia, suddenly meets a cute guy named Ben at a post office in New York City and falls infatuated with the boy he meets. However, the universe had other plans and separated them after that encounter. The story starts with the premise of Arthur and Ben trying to get in touch with one another. And when they did, they wondered if the universe had set them up together or to be apart.

What is “What If It’s US” About?

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.

Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.

But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?

Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.

Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?

What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?

What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?

But what if it is?

What If It’s Us Review

From the get-go, I have to admit I didn’t like this book. It started boring, was a snorefest in the middle, but the ending was fine. Still, the book left me unsatisfied with the direction it took. Since it’s a romance novel with no other interesting plot points, it centers around their love story, which is not perfect, but it is also not noteworthy. Now that I’ve got it off my chest, let me get into the details on why I’m not the biggest fan of the book.

The Plot Is Not Plotting

To start, this story doesn’t have any plot other than their romance. Which, some would say is fine. But I find their chemistry mediocre, and their relationship seems rushed. Also, I get that one of the characters is only there for a few weeks and that the other character just came out of a break-up, but their interactions were so awkward. So embarrassing that I had to take a lot of pauses while reading the book. This excerpt from the end of their first date encapsulates it best.

Arthur stares at his sneakers. “I look way happier than you. It’s cool if you want to call it quits. If you’re still caught up on your ex, I get it. Well, I don’t get it. But I can Imagine.”

“No, I just… I had a lot of fun, but I know I wasn’t fully here,” I say. That’s my fault. I brought my date somewhere I used to come with my ex-boyfriend. I also don’t know how much I should really be investing in this since Arthur is just going to leave at the end of the summer anyway.

Moving on, I also hate that the story didn’t really go anywhere, it just came and left. Arthur and Ben did get into a relationship for a short time, but broke off when Arthur had to go back to Georgia. Their story isn’t special in any way, shape, or form, just like this book. It’s basically two people getting in a relationship, then breaking up, but someone made it into a book, that’s it.

Why I didn’t like What If It’s Us

Another thing I don’t like about this book is the random scene with homophobia. I get that they are trying to portray a realistic queer relationship in New York or the United States in general. But adding a scene where they experienced homophobia didn’t really make sense. It was just there to be included. It didn’t have any bearing on Ben and Arthur’s relationship at all and was never revisited in future scenes of the book. Considering that this is a fluffy love story type of book, adding smears of homophobia just added a sour taste in my mouth. If you’re going to add it, use it.

Finally, I did not like the characters. I felt like Ben and Arthur’s narration style is very similar and could be the same character, if not for their distinct interest. Not to mention, I also found the real-life references to be the only thing that makes the character engaging, but also relies too heavily on those references. I get it Arthur’s a theater kid who’s into Hamilton, Ben’s a gay teen that’s into Lana, Lorde, and Harry Potter.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who’s not into books that don’t have a plot, has a ton of J.K. Rowling references, just pure fluff, and has tons of real-life references in it. But it’s not for me.

Book Overview

Title:

What If It’s Us

Author:

Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

Genre:

Romantic Comedy, Young Adult, LGBT

Published by:

Harper Teen (October 9, 2018)

Content Warnings:

Homophobia, Racism, Panic Attacks, Cheating, J.k. Rowling

Where To Buy?