When You Were Everything

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I think this books does a great job exploring all different types of loss and the building of different relationships. Friend break ups are THE WORST. Honestly, I think they’re more painful than a romantic break up. And it’s not written about enough, and it should be. What topic is more relatable than a once close friend becoming a stranger? Who hasn’t been through that before in their lifetime? A hugely evocative and deeply relatable elegy to friendship, heartbreak, and love, this book is gorgeous in every way.”—Jennifer E. Smith, author of Windfalland Field Notes on Love Anchorless and distraught, Cleo begins to form friendships with other classmates (and a budding romance with Dom, the gorgeous new boy in school). Despite these steps forward, she has been shaken to the core by what happened. The experience has left her unable to truly trust others until she learns to forgive Layla—and herself.

This book was beautifully written though the pacing was a little slow at times. Cleo and Layla have been best friends for years. But once Layla starts hanging out with the chorus girls she gains a little more confidence and starts hanging out with Cleo less; Not to mention Layla's new friend Sloane doesn't seem to like Cleo at all and turns the other chorus girls against her. And Sloane ends up starting a rumor which really hurts Cleo and her family. ALRIGHT, here we go. Am I well rested? No. Will this coffee work miracles? I hope so. Do I regret reading this book in nearly one sitting and foregoing sleep, thereby compromising my cognitive and intellectual abilities for likely the entire day today? No. In alternating narratives of present and past, or “then” and “now”, Woodfolk charts the friendship, the demise, and the aftermath of Cleo and Layla. Cleo and Layla were best friends, but after their friendship “implodes”, Cleo wants to create a new life without Layla, and more importantly, she wants new memories that don’t include Layla. The cookout was crowded, and none of the other kids were talking to me because, like I said, I was the neighborhood weirdo. I carried around snow globesbecause I was in love with every place I’d never been. I often recited Shakespeare from memory because of my dad, who is a librarian. I lost myself in books because they were friends who never letme down, and I didn’t hide enough of myself the way everyone else did, so people didn’t ‘get’ me. I was lonely a lot. Unless I was with my Gigi.

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For fans of Nina LaCour’s We Are Okay and Adam Silvera’s History Is All You Left Me, this heartfelt and ultimately uplifting novel follows one sixteen-year-old girl’s friend breakup through two concurrent timelines–ultimately proving that even endings can lead to new beginnings. When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk is not a story about falling in love, but about something important, and perhaps something not seen as much in young adult literature: the loss of friendship. When you were everything“ perfectly captures what going through a friendship breakup feels like and i feel like there needs to be more books about this topic since i don‘t think it is talked about nearly enough. Cleo is one of the most relatable characters i‘ve ever read about and i didn‘t expect to relate to her as much as i did.

Then there’s the other side of a friendship like this ending. How do you trust enough to let knew friends in? Cleo ends up hanging out with a few new people, but clearly tries pushing them away, because she doesn’t want to be hurt again. This was hard to see, because these side characters were really trying to welcome her in their lives. Healing from a friendship break up and making new memories isn’t easy, but Cleo is slowly learning how to do this during the book. When You Were Everything is very much a character driven book and can be considered slow at times, but it really dives into the emotions and dealing with so many changes. There’s a cute romance as well, but I love the fact that it didn’t end up being the main part of this story. Chloe is our protagonist. At first, her love for Shakespeare is so cringy because what high schooler likes Shakespeare? Usually, one forced to read Romeo Juliet, Hamlet, or Macbeth but Chloe knows her stuff. Her dad is a librarian in New York City, which explains her deep love and knowledge of literature. He walks on water to Chloe, but she learns reality doesn't always meet expectations.There’s just one catch: Cleo is assigned to be Layla’s tutor. The scenes between Cleo and Layla in the “now” chapters are so realistic and sometimes painful (or painfully, perfectly awkward). These two girls had love for one another, or maybe even continue to have some love one another, but time and time again readers watch any chance of their friendship being mended slowly falling apart. A stunning story that speaks to the deeply human need to love and be loved in myriad ways—and to the power we each wield over those closest to us.”

All in all, When You Were Everything is an amazing book. I’m normally someone that loves when things get settled and everything is happily ever after, but life isn’t always like that and this book balances that aspect very well. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in the future!I really appreciate how this book breaks a linear timeline, as it is unclear when exactly “then” and “now” is actually referring. In this fresh take on a standard timeline, readers slowly get to know Cleo and Layla’s friendship, and their new friendships as they create new memories. At the same time, Woodfolk shares the healing process in When You Were Everything. I loved seeing Cleo learn to trust Sydney, another girl she befriends. Woodfolk shows how it takes Cleo time to trust Sydney after Layla broke her heart, and even though it takes time, Cleo learns to open up again and share herself, her joys and her pains. Watching Cleo’s healing process gave me hope for my own healing process and motivated me to celebrate the close friendships I do have right now, despite some of my past ones that have burned me. Woodfolk includes some additional subtle yet brilliant insights throughout the novel too, such as how sometimes you just have to go through your pain instead of trying to erase it, as well as how sometimes you idealize someone and have to learn to see them for who they really are, instead of who you want them to be. At its heart, I just loved a book centered entirely on friendships; how they are so important and formative to teenage girls, how they can be so healing and wonderful but also hurt as well. Maitê wrote: "I get what you mean about not feeling seen at times when reading YA because it's so saturated with romantic relationships. Not to mention losing friendships, particularly when they use your insecur..."

The self- and life-defining nature of grief and loss captured so well by authors such as John Green is explored here with humor, intelligence, and grace.”As a topic, I think that is massively overlooked in YA contemporary, which mainly goes around romance, so reading When You Were Everything was welcome.