Who I Was with Her

By: Nita Tyndall

Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky

""A beautiful, poised, and thought-provoking debut about love, loss, coming out, and discovering living life on your own terms."" —New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Glasgow

There are two things that Corinne Parker knows to be true: that she is in love with Maggie Bailey, the captain of the rival high school's cross-country team and her secret girlfriend of a year, and that she isn't ready for anyone to know she's bisexual.

But then Maggie dies, and Corinne quickly learns that the only thing worse than losing Maggie is being left heartbroken over a relationship no one knows existed. And to make things even more complicated, the only person she can turn to is Elissa—Maggie's ex, and the single person who understands how Corinne is feeling.

As Corinne struggles to make sense of her grief and what she truly wants out of life, she begins to have feelings for the last person she should fall for. But to move forward after losing Maggie, Corinne will have to learn to be honest with the people in her life...starting with herself.

Realism

Give yourself the time to feel this. The voice is beyond a simple telling. The author wants the audience to understand something profound. It can be found, but you have to be willing to take the journey.

Enjoyed it

I decided to give this book a chance after it being in my wish list for a while. The message is really heart warming. The writing was pretty good and the narrator had a mission to make me cry at least 3 times. I really loved the relationship between Maggie & Corinne. Wasn’t a fan of Elissa, kind of felt forced to me compared to Corinnes other relationships. Overall I’d recommend it to anyone.

Very emotional

And alternating heart breaking and triumphant. Be prepared to shed a tear. I loved it but it made me sad.

Insufferable

Strike One: I had to check the publication date and then double check that WHO I WAS WITH HER wasn’t historical fiction because Corrine’s attitude about her bisexuality and coming out felt more like it should have taken place is the 1970s or 80s than in 2020. The secrecy and fear Corey carried doesn’t ring true for teens I know today.

Strike Two: Narrator and MC Corrine behaved as if she was the only person entitled to to grieve Maggie, her secret girlfriend. She *couldn’t* tell anyone why she was sad, because no one knew Maggie and Corey were in a relationship. Except, Corey could have told people her friend died, so that part of the narrative didn’t ring true.

Strike Three: Corrine. Corrine was simply insufferable. While depression and grief can make people myopic, by not disclosing that someone she cares about died, she left people wondering. For all her thoughts of not fitting in, no one seemed to feel that way about you.

Three strikes in baseball and you’re out. WHO I WAS WITH HER had more than three strikes including repetitiveness and boringness. Character drive novels can work with with interesting characters who have personality and depth. Angst without personality is boring.