It Happens All the Time by Amy Hatvany

It Happens All the Time

by Amy Hatvany

“Bravely sheds light on sexual assault and consent. In alternating perspectives friends Tyler and Amber recount an alcohol-fueled night that changed the course of their lives.” –Us Weekly

From master storyteller Amy Hatvany—whose writing has been hailed as “gripping and emotionally honest” (Stephanie Evanovich, New York Times betselling author)— comes a compelling story about friendship and consent, perfect for “fans of Jodi Picoult or Diane Chamberlain” (Library Journal).

I want to rewind the clock, take back the night when the world shattered. I want to erase everything that went wrong.

Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers—trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives. And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends.

Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years. Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them. One night, fueled by alcohol and concerns about whether she’s getting married too young, Amber kisses Tyler.

What happens next will change them forever.

Told “with nuance and compassion” (Kirkus Reviews) in alternating points of view, It Happens All the Time is “a compulsory read for men and women” (Redbook) that will “consume you, drawing you into the very real plight of the main characters and leaving you hoping for a better future for us all” (Buzzfeed).

Reviewed by whisperingchapters on

4 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

This story follows Amber and Tyler, two best friends whose lives changed after one tragic night, told from both POV’s, before and after what happened.

I think about how there are some wounds unreachable by words, some sins immune to apology. I think about this, and then I think about Tyler. How there are some things you just can’t forgive.

I wasn’t prepared for how much I would feel reading this story. I really wasn’t. Amy Hatvany was real with her depiction of how a rape victim feels after it happens and… I wasn’t prepared for how much they feel. It tore me apart. My heart was aching with every word I was reading, suffering along with Amber especially to have it done by someone she considered her best friend. That one event changed her life drastically and for the worse.

This was some other man, some animal, not the boy I’d known and loved. He was a stranger violating my body, a monster taking what he wanted and not caring about the carnage left in his wake.

In the end, all she wanted was justice. But to try to get to that point, she had to speak up and she just wasn’t ready. How disgusting and shocking it is that assault victims feel like they can’t come forward and speak up because “justice” simply isn’t in their favor. Everyone ends up putting the blame on the victim. That’s beyond sad and it infuriates me. Reading Amber’s story reminded me of the cruel world we live in and how if she was into it at first, she wanted it. The title is very fitting to this novel because it really does happen all the time. Just because we don’t hear about it every day, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

It’s easy to understand why this story and the feels felt so real. It’s because the author went through something like this. I can only imagine that all the anguish Amber went through, the author did as well and it’s why this story really hit me hard.

It Happens All the Time is a shocking, compelling and gut-wrenching realistic novel on how drinking can really be dangerous and lead to committing crimes you never thought someone would do. It also deals with the aftermath of what happened and how painful it is for a victim to go through it.

I received an eARC and ARC from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 March, 2017: Finished reading
  • 29 March, 2017: Reviewed