WL's Mainstream Gay Book Reviews - 64. Here’s to Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (Gay Romance) Book 2 of What if it’s Us

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55424906-here-s-to-us

Oh Boy! This is one of those sequels you need to read the prior book before continuing because you will not be able to understand the emotional resonance without it. I am so glad I re-read the 1^st book a week before I began reading this book back in January. Arthur and Ben were so innocent and sweet in book 1, it reminds me of a simpler time a few years ago before the Pandemic. Book 2 has them growing up and maturing into adults with their own lives and choices, some harder and some easier. Book 1 was about youth filled with hope and innocence, book 2 is about oncoming adulthood that both guys needed to take risks and accept the consequences to obtain. Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli are some of the best authors in mainstream gay fiction, deserving their millions of readers worldwide. Not everyone will like book 2, though, because I can tell from my reading the new direction is a double-edged sword. I don’t think the negative reviews of this book are giving it balanced judgment, but I do agree with critics that stylistically its plot-heavy narrative creates dissonance against book 1’s themes. This book should not be marketed as Young Adult, because honestly the concept and storytelling are more adult, despite its very scant amount of sexual content. Hopefully, I can help readers figure out if this sequel is for you or if you would rather keep it simpler with book 1’s open-ended plotline.

Length: 448 pages and 10 hours 9 minutes on audible. It’s not a fast read. I will also admit that at some points I felt like the narrative dragged a bit due to the multiple plot threads. Part of me feels like the book might have gotten too bloated with plotlines about nothing, which is quintessential “Seinfeld”-like New York storytelling. I’m used to this kind of narrative style and watched TV shows like that in the past, so I will alert readers that you need to be ready to go through a lot of random plots before you get to the “love story”.

Plot: Ben and Arthur have moved on with their lives. Ben is trying to juggle a hectic life with college, his part-time job working at the grocery store for his father, and aspiring to get his book “Wicked Wizard Wars” into publication. Ben has a new lover in the form of Mario, a guy he met in one of his classes, who aspires to become a Hollywood producer. Arthur, in contrast, has had an amazing degree of freedom in college, being able to express himself and finding love in the form of his dedicated boyfriend Mikey. Things are going well for Arthur to the point that he gets an internship, working for an off-Broadway assistant director, meaning he will be returning to New York after 2 years away from the city and Ben. Coincidence and the universe bring Arthur and Ben back into contact with one another through a series of nostalgic moments. Throughout their interactions, Dylan, Ben’s best friend, has been acting oddly, dragging the boys to different shops and venues for an unknown reason, while Dylan’s girlfriend Samantha has been distant. However, through all these forced trips, Ben and Arthur get another chance to reconnect and find that they still share the same chemistry from 2 years earlier; though neither would admit it to each other until the very end. While they both found their way back to each other, they have new lives and new loves. Ben is offered a chance of a lifetime to move to Los Angeles with Mario when Mario’s show pitch is picked up, but it’s a risky move. Mikey surprises Arthur by visiting him in New York, hoping to shower affection on his boyfriend. Ben and Arthur must make tough choices about taking chances and finding what is right for themselves, including hurting those that loved them.

Review: This book is a tough read for someone, who loved the original and was waiting with bated breath for its sequel. After reading it in January, I wanted to give this book a really bad rating, but I held off and tried to re-read it. As a seasoned reviewer after all these book reviews, I've learned anticipation clouds judgments about a book's quality, so it's better to wait and give it another chance before writing something down. It’s a better story after the second reading because I think I know where the authors were going with this book. This book isn’t a second chance romance, not by a longshot, because you need to have lost that love in the first place. What we have here is an example of real-life mixed-up with random plots. Essentially, it's a gay romance with a lot of side stories.

The problem with this style is simply too many plots. Writers and readers possess thresholds for extenuating plots, so maybe some like myself will be put off by the continual churn of storylines or plot threads that go everywhere from Arthur’s best friend Ethan coming out as bisexual (Yes, I had a feeling he might be from book 1. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he had a crush on Arthur) to all the minor events leading to the wedding for Dylan and Samantha, along with Samantha’s pregnancy. Life happens and things get mixed into the main storylines, but unlike real life, a story is easier to read when it’s linear. A non-linear story is a stylistic choice, which not every reader enjoys as you can tell from the negative reviews on Goodreads or from actual critics concerning “messy plot”. I don’t think the plot is messy, but I think the story does get bogged down by a lot of events. That’s probably the greatest issue with this sequel; it’s trying to tell too many stories at the same time.

As for characterization, Ben and Arthur were both trying to be loyal and honest, never cheating on their boyfriends, but they both knew who their hearts yearned for most above all. That’s a reality with love, when you do love someone and you are going to hurt someone else due to your lack of feelings for them to that extent, you have to choose between making others happy at your own expense or making yourself happy at others’ expense. Love is a selfish emotion and it’s something you can see in how Ben and Arthur internally debate; they’re trying to do the right thing, but they have to hurt others to have their happiness. I feel bad for Mikey, who did everything right as a boyfriend, but Arthur just loved him less than Ben. Some readers hated Arthur for his inability to communicate his issues with Mikey, but they need to remember Arthur has ADHD, so by nature, it’s hard for him to vocalize his emotions in a clear pattern. Arthur was doing what he could to be faithful, keeping his distance from Ben, despite their mutual attraction and plain love. Mikey could tell and it’s a tragedy that’s how he learned about his boyfriend, “not loving” him. It’s an adult reality without all the horrible issues that some gay guys would find themselves in, in real life, Arthur and Ben could probably be cheating on their boyfriends with this level of emotional attraction. Neither did and that’s to their credit as maturing adults, who try to do the right thing in spite of reality. Not everyone can win in love, sometimes you have to lose.

There are issues though in characterization, especially with Ben. Unlike Arthur with ADHD and communication issues, Ben's problems are buried in the plot. I think the issue here is that he's trying to figure out what he wants for his life versus what he dreams of having. I know Adam Silvera writes for Ben's part of the story and I love his writing style, especially in his book They Both Die in the End, but I think the issue with tangling with too many plots affected Ben's character arc. The final conversation with Hudson, his ex-boyfriend from book 1, should have happened earlier and been a catalyst event for his emotional upheaval. However, having it happen at the end in order to provide confirmation to Ben that he only loved Arthur truly and fully, felt off to me. Hudson is still in love with Ben and there are a lot of words left unsaid about what love should be versus what it is. Mario is the idea, not the emotion of love. I think Adam Silvera was trying to comunicate that with Ben's story after re-reading, but it was buried. Without a catalyst, Ben comes off as being a character without direction or drive, being thrust into situations and emotions as if he were a SIMS character rather than a three-dimensional human being.

Supporting characters are the stars of the plot and some brought much-needed comedy to the book, which helps make the reading easier at times and hurt the overall storyline as well. Dylan is still the crazy best friend from book 1, along with his down-to-earth girlfriend and wife, Samantha. It’s a beautiful romantic comedy relationship, which sort of overshadows Ben and Arthur’s love story a bit with all its melodrama and plot twists, like a Spanish telenovela. The interactions between Dylan and Samantha keep the story fresh, but this is not their story. The secret wedding planning Dylan does without Ben knowing is distracting and the pregnancy angle also shifts the story's plotlines considerably as Ben must deal with the issues of the supporting characters. The same can be said of Arthur, who not only has to deal with his boyfriend's surprise arrival in New York but also with his best friend Ethan from book 1, coming out as a bisexual to add another "distraction", Arthur's own words for the revelation. I had the thought that Ethan was secretly in love with Arthur from book 1 and the relationship with Jessie, their female best friend, was transference. However, the failure of Ethan's relationship and the subsequent coming out didn't add any emotional weight, rather it just padded an already extensive list of plots. There's a lot of plot being thrown at both characters and not enough being used to address the needs of big events. As for the boyfriends, Mario appears to be the suave and successful future Hollywood power player, he’s a dreamer with high hopes of breaking out and taking chances. Mikey in contrast is a down-to-earth New Englander (Yes, he’s from my neck of the woods) and he’s very boring in contrast to Arthur’s flashy nature. In a way, he’s the polar opposite of what Samantha is to Dylan, instead of balancing the couple dynamic, Mikey drags down Arthur. He’s not a bad person, but Arthur is forced to be his protector, which is not Arthur’s nature. It’s a good way of showing how opposite personalities are not always complementary.

Rating: 3 out of 5, it’s not as strong as the first book and I agree with the negative reviews that the plot goes far off from its premise. However, I admire an adult situation story with characters, who try to be honest with themselves and their lover. The ending was very nice for the couple as well. It's worth reading for those who want a happy ending for book 1, but please do not go into it with high hopes from book 1.