What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

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?

After reading and loving all of Becky Albertalli’s and Adam Silvera’s books I was so excited to hear they were joining up to write a young adult together. Even before reading the synopsis for What If It’s Us? I knew I had to have the book and I had to read it as soon as possible. I think this book has to be my most anticipated read of 2018, there has been quite a few books I have been really wanting to read this year, but I think this book tops the lot of them because I knew it was going to absolutely amazing.

What If It’s Us is told from both Ben and Arthur’s Perspectives and starts off with when they first met each other in a post office but before they can exchange details a flash mob breaks out and separates the two. They both then try to find each other to see if meeting each other in the post office was fate’s way of telling them that they should be together.

Even if I didn’t know before hand as soon as I started reading I knew that the Arthur chapters were written by Becky Albertalli because immediately I could tell her style of writing and it just felt like Arthur would of fitted in perfectly with Simon Spier’s gang of friends. Arthur is such a bubbly and interesting character that you fall in love with almost instantly. Again with Ben you can see how Adam Silvera has really thought about how Ben as a character ticks because Ben has such a depth to him that it’s difficult to not find some point of him relatable.

A good third of the book is about Ben and Arthur finding each other in New York City and I thought that this part of the book would be a little unbelievable when I read the synopsis because I am sure finding someone with no name in a place like New York would be impossible but the way both authors have told the story is very believable and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And when both characters finally meet that warm fuzziness turns to absolute love! Everything about these characters are so touching, genuine and so relatable that when they both finally meet you can feel nothing but happiness. I don’t think I have read a single book this year that I have connected with the main characters as much as I did when reading What If It’s Us.

The book is only about 450 pages but I could have read a book double the size because I adored the writing. By having both of these talented authors writing a book together I knew the writing was going to be pretty good, but it still blew me away how amazing it actually was. There are so many moments that make you think that you will never read a book this good again, and this is down to the authors. You can tell that they both really cared about this book and the story, and they wanted to put in their all. After reading this book I did have to have a few days off from reading any other book because I knew that I would not enjoy it as much as I should because nothing would match up to this level of amazingness!

I thought the story flowed really well and that the story didn’t become slow and dull at points. Normally once the two characters meet the story seems to become a little boring but for the story really kicks off when they meet and makes me want to carry on reading even more. I could have easily read this in one sitting in just a few hours, but I wanted to make this book last a couple of days because I knew once I finished reading it I would regret it. Even though I managed to stretch out reading the book over a couple of days I was itching to pick the book back up again as soon as I put it down. I remember being at work and thinking constantly about Ben and Arthur and the book. Once I started reading my mind was consumed with What If It’s Us and there was no point in talking to me about anything else because I was just daydreaming about Ben and Arthur.

This review might not make a lot of sense because even though I have had a month to process my thoughts and put it into some sort of readable review, I just can’t comprehend how amazing this book actually is and everyone should go out and read it. I had some really high expectations with this book and I honestly thought that they were probably too high but both authors have written and absolute masterpiece and I can definitely see myself re-reading this book over and over again in many years to come and still enjoying it. What If It’s Us is my favourite read of 2018!

I rate this book 5/5 stars

***I was sent a copy of this book for review. Everything in this review is my own honest opinions.***