What is If We Were Us about?

Everyone at the prestigious Bexley School believes that Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael are meant to be….that it’s just a matter of time until they realize that they are actually in love.

When Luke Morrissey shows up on the Bexley campus his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to steal away to spend time with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick.

But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that things with Nick are getting too serious too quickly. The duo will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review of If We Were Us:

Let me start off this review by saying that this is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, and it just might top the list of books I’ve read in 2021. Not only does it have a ton of pop culture references that I love (you can’t have too many, really), but the relationships, both romantic and platonic are so well done, especially Sage and Charlie’s. I love love LOVE their friendship dynamic, and how they’re so close and supportive of one another. Yes, each of their romance plots are important to the story, but if you’re looking for a book with wonderful friendships in it, you’ve found it. Even the friendship between Luke and Sage didn’t hinge on their individual relationship with Charlie, which I loved. (I’ll be using the word “love” a lot in this review…)

I think one of the reasons I love this book so much is that even though it’s young adult, it has more new adult vibes, since it’s set at a boarding school. What I mean by that is it’s more reminiscent of college in that all of the characters are in dorms, and although there’s less freedom than in college, the set up was similar in some ways. Even though the characters don’t spend all that much time in classes on the page, they actually put effort into their schoolwork, with no judgement attached to it. (Definitely felt seen by how they did their group projects.) It also doesn’t play into stereotypes of, for example, people involved in theatre can’t be popular, etc. The school dynamics were very well done. 

The group dynamics changed a bit once the characters started crushing on each other, but I really liked that the book wasn’t about a love triangle. The romances are so well done (although I have to admit, I was more invested in Charlie and Luke), and I would read a billion more books about these characters! There are so many wonderful and lovely moments throughout the whole book, so I don’t want to give too much away — but do yourself a favor and go read this one ASAP! This is an amazing debut novel, and I can’t wait for more from K. L.!

Check out an excerpt from Chapter 4, as well as my interview with the author about the book! Her second novel, The Summer of Broken Rules, is out now, and you just might see some familiar faces 🙂  

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