Review: In Review: Remember When Trilogy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 6, 2014
I'm so glad to see this amazing trilogy in one boxed set! This is, hands down, one of my favorite all-time new adult contemporary series. I can't recommend it highly enough! I won't post my reviews of the entire trilogy as to not spoil books two and three, but you can read my review of the first book below...Book One:“Be happy. Wherever you wind up. And know that I’ll be thinking of you, wherever I am.”I’m not going to gush. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m totally going to gush. I’ll try to reign myself in. But when a book is this good, I don’t know what else to do. To say I loved this book just might be the understatement of the year.I truthfully have no idea how to put my feelings about this book into words. I’ll start with the words the words that come immediately to mind when I think back on it: heartwarming, beautiful, engrossing, nostalgic, unputdownable, realistic. I could keep going with synonyms for amazing and great all night long. I’ll spare you. It’s hard to pinpoint what I like best about this book – the writing, the characters or the plot. Each are amazing in their own way and each only added to my love of this book.First, the characters. Layla could have been me. She could have been my best friend. She could have been you. She was so easy to identify with. She had her faults, sure. We all do. You could absolutely feel how conflicted she was about Trip and her feelings for him. It’s not easy when you think you’re falling in love with your best friend. Is it worth it sometimes? Absolutely. But it’s scary as hell to think about taking that big of a risk with someone so important to you. Oh, Trip. What can you say about Trip? He had the looks, he had the charisma and the charm. He’s the guy from high school that, all these years later, you still can’t let go. You know which guy I’m talking about. Even if he wasn’t a movie star and even if nothing ever happened between you, you know that guy. We all do. There was one in every school. The chemistry between these two was incredible.Is there anything better than reading about first love – requited or otherwise? It’s gut-wrenching, it’s sweet, it’s hopeful, it’s (mostly) innocent. You can’t read about first love without thinking back to your own first love. One of my favorite things about the book was Trip’s “Mind Ramble” from English class. You really have to read the whole thing to understand, and I would never tell you that for fear of spoiling the book, but I’ll tease you with this squee-worthy quote:“Okay so I just caught the look you shot me over your shoulder and you need to know that I can’t even breathe right now.”This book made me so very nostalgic in so many ways. It was so easy to slip back in time and relate to the loves and the friendship and just the 90s in general. Remember When is full of 90s references, but not in the distracting way that some books struggle with. This book doesn’t try too hard. It all works so well. Whether it was New Kids on the Block or spandex or banana clips, I couldn’t help but smile thinking back on those days.I tried and tried to think of one thing about this book and I came up totally blank. I have nothing. I want everyone to read this book and love it as much as I did. Do. I laughed. I cried. I reminisced.While, in theory, there’s no “cliffhanger,” once you take a minute to read the teaser for the second book, you might think differently. I loved the teaser. I literally counted the days until the next book was released.Remember When is a book I will continue to re-read for years to come. It’s definitely earned a spot on my favorites shelf. Quite literally. I may have read it on my Nook app, but I promptly purchased a paperback copy.