When We Were Them

 

Author: Laura Taylor Namey

Narrator: Gail Shalan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Year: 2021

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the #giftedbook. 

Willa, Luz, and Britton have been best friends since they were young. Now, in the week before their high school graduation, their friendship is fractured by Willa’s shocking betrayal. Can Willa repair their damaged friendship before the girls go their separate ways? 

The story bounces between the past and present. The duel timeline highlights seminal moments during the girls’ high school years and graduation week as Willa does major soul searching looking for a way to explain and apologize for her actions. 

This is a character driven novel, but I thought Willa’s character was a little flat. She just wasn’t that dynamic and that might have been the author’s intent. Willa has always stood comfortably in the shadows of her two friends. Britton, a budding opera singer, is set to go to Paris after graduation. Luz, an aspiring heart surgeon, ponders going to college far from their California home. Willa is left feeling lost and abandoned at the thought of her friends leaving. 

When We Were Them is emotional story that will appeal to teen readers. They’ll easily relate to the girls’ high school adventures and those intense teen emotions when your friends are your world. Gail Shalan does a wonderful job narrating the audiobook. She conveys all the emotion, love, and heartbreak of the teen years. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: would you rather spend the weekend without coffee or WiFi? 

Easy answer for me! I don’t drink coffee so not having WiFi would be worse. 

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