If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz
Published October 27th 2013
Age Group: YA
Source: eARC from Author 
Summary:
They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.
I do not believe them.
At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.
Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.
And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.
If Only We is a beautiful story. It really is a heartwarming and feel good read. Adrienne gets a summer do-over. We don’t know how exactly, but she travels back in time and gets to re do the last 3 months of her life. And there are plenty of things that she would like to change. If Only We is the story of her second chance to get it all right. I loved the overall story of If Only We. I think this is a great debut book for Jessica Sankiewicz.
The book starts at the end of Adrienne’s summer and she is not too happy. She is still broken up about putting it all on the line with her friend/crush Chevy when she worked up the courage to tell him that she liked him. And he kind of just brushed her off with the lets be friends line, without really giving her a reason why. It kind of made him seem like a jerk. I was worried that I wouldn’t like him, but he really grew on me in her do-over summer. I was pretty skeptical of him at first, but he completely won me over. And he eventually explains himself, which made up for everything. I liked Adrienne. She wasn’t always the most mature, but then again she is only 18. But I really liked the way she went after things. She didn’t freak out about this second chance summer, she faced it head on. She figured out the things that she wanted to accomplish and change and she set out to do them. I like a go-getter attitude. I felt bad that she was so nervous about telling her mom about nursing. I liked that when she decided it wasn’t something she was passionate about, that she changed directions and went for something she liked. And I loved what she chose because it really seemed to suit her. But I didn’t really get why she put off college. The first two years are mainly just generic classes that can be used for any degree or major, so I didn’t know why she didn’t sign up for some regular classes and then try a few different things to see what she liked. But that was really my only criticism with her. Other than that, I really liked how she faced her mistakes and how genuine of a person she seemed to be.
The secondary characters in If Only We were great as well. We really got to know Chevy and even her step sister, Kaitlin. I thought it was really cute how the two of them bonded. This is the story of just normal family and friends. The things Adrienne goes through are things you can immediately relate to. She is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. And she is trying to get over rejection, and not disappointing her parents. If Only We is just so relate able. There are touching, tender moments, and sad moments and pretty much everything in between. And the ending will just make you smile. I loved the way jessica tied everything up. If Only We is a really good standalone novel. I enjoyed it.
Jessica is the 28-year-old author of IF ONLY WE, a YA contemporary. You can often find her either reading or marathon watching TV on DVD, her favorites being Castle and Veronica Mars. She frequently mismatches her clothes and giggles uncontrollably. She knows almost every Billy Joel song by heart. She collects books and toys, and she has an intense love of cats and lemurs. Currently in the midst of her quarter-life-crisis, she is still takin’ names and getting very close to reaching an epiphany.
Connect with Jessica:
Kindlemom
I have this one up to read soon and I am excited about reading it. I love anything that has to do with time travel or do-overs.
Great review! I am looking forward to reading this even more now. Sometimes we just need those quick sweet stories to cleanse our palates after tougher reads and I think this will be one of those reads for me.
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings
This sounds really fun. i adore a good time travel novel and hey I could read a summer novel about now.
Jessica S.
Thank you bunches for your review! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. ^_^