If You Only Knew

by Kristan Higgins

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
If You Only Knew is a cute read which still tackles some serious and heavy subjects - I loved the strong friendship between the sisters.



If You Only Knew is a contemporary romance that I would definitely tag as realistic fiction, as it follows two sisters - Jenny and Rachel - through some of the upheavals of adult life. How to deal with things when it's impossible to run to mom and dad, how to stay strong when all one wants to do is to curl into a small ball and cry. How to trust again after that trust has been completely torn apart by someone who should have known better. How to deal with secrets - both those within the family and without. And how to ultimately move forward, without losing oneself in bitterness and anger.

Jenny and Rachel were going through some very different situations, however, in some ways things were quite similar as well. If You Only Knew is definitely about what you would have done if you had known the final outcome in advance, but not only that. As I said the loyalty and friendship between the two sisters worked really well. I did find both of them to be quite immature for their ages in many ways, though. Jenny was almost 40 and Rachel 36, and I really can't say I recognized myself in either of them, which kind of made it a bit difficult for me to fully connect to them.

Written in alternate chapters from Rachel's and Jenny's point of view, in first person present tense, the readers discover the plot alongside the protagonists. And while there were some things I didn't get, because the characters seemed slightly off to me, If You Only Knew is still an enjoyable story and a quick read. Jenny's sarcasm was mostly spot-on, and one of the parts I loved the most!



The gifts - including mine - border on the ridiculous. The shower invitation - engraved from Crane's - asked, at the behest of the parents, for donations to the clean-well-water charity Ana-Sofia founded - Gushing.org, the name of which brings to mind a particularly bad menstrual period, but which raises funds for wells in Africa.

He's tall. And thin. Suddenly, I want to feed him. Also, that's some seriously gorgeous hair, even better than at first glance. Married. Hair like that wouldn't remain single. He's wearing and unbuttoned flannel shirt over a T-shirt, and while he looks like he just rolled out of bed, it kind of...works. [...] "You eye-fucking me?" he asks.

Already, they're bickering over who gets to sit on  which part of the couch. Charlotte keeps taking Rose's sippy cup for no reason. Rose is angry that I didn't let her drink wine with breakfast - "or ever, Mommy! You so mean!" Grace is scowling at the movie, because she wanted to watch Dexter instead, which I recently bought on DVD. Shockingly, I said no.