The Girl He Used to Know

by Tracey Garvis Graves

[Sam@WLABB]

It was ten years since she let him go. Annika spent those ten years working on herself and becoming more independent. After a decade, she wanted to show Jonathan, that she wasn't quite the girl he used to know, and that she was (hopefully) the girl he still loved.

Graves had me hook, line, and sinker from the very beginning of this story. I am trash for second chance romances, and seeing these two meet again after so many years made me believe the universe had a plan for them.

I probably would have been happy enough just getting the present day tale with these two rekindling their romance, but it was made even better via the flashbacks. It was like getting to see Annika and Jonathan fall in love twice, and I was exceedingly happy for them - both times.

The flashbacks also served the purpose of showing us what went wrong so many years ago, and helped me understand all the ways both Annika and Jonathan grew and changed. Each were different due to their experiences over the years, but they were still essentially the same two people, who met and fell in love back at the University of Illinois.

Call it mushy, call it OTT emotional, but I am all about that. There were so many beautiful moments in this love story, and I gladly ingested each and every one. Not only did the romance work my heartstrings, but I fell head over heels for Annika.

She was so lovely and honest and kind. It pained me to hear about the way she had been treated in the past, but Jonathan and her best friend, Janice, were two stupendous humans, who luckily were able to see what was in Annika's heart, and they loved her for it.

My only complaint about this book was something Graves did towards the end. It was an extreme way to have Annika prove that she would not run, and that she was all in with Jonathan. I understand what the author was trying to accomplish, but like I said, it was a pretty extreme circumstance she elected to use.

And, though the ending gave me an idea about where Annika and Jonathan's futures were heading, I really wished we had an epilogue to let me know where they ended up.

Even though the ending left me wanting, I still enjoyed every second of this story. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I swooned. This book provided me with some fantastic feels, and I am so glad I got to see Annika and Jonathan take that second chance on each other.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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