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Looking for some cute boy next door LBTQ+ read 😉 ? The following review should give you an idea as to whether Been Here All Along will fit your taste.
Title:Â Been Here All Along
Author: Sandy Hall
Pages:Â 214 (paperback)
Point of View:Â 1st person (alternating between 4 viewpoints)
Genre(s): Young Adult
Instalment: standalone
Tropes:Â boy-next-door, friends-to-lovers
Gideon has been best friends with Kyle since he was five years old when the Kaminsky’s first moved in next door. They both love everything Tolkien and are fluent in Elvish but that’s mostly where their similarities seem to end. Kyle is tall, captain of the basketball team, got a popular cheerleader as a girlfriend and struggles in school. Gideon is short, educationally ambitious, too smart for his own good and has never been in a relationship. And he’s jealous of Kyle’s beautiful girlfriend because he shockingly realizes he’s in love with his best friend.
An enjoyable Read But…
Been Here All Along is an enjoyable quick read; it’s funny at times and written in a rather simple way. However, it is also a little flat. Partly at fault is probably the change in viewpoints. I’m not sure what POV Hall’s novel Signs Point to Yes is written in as I haven’t read it, but as I have reviewed her debut novel A Little Something Different, which is told in fourteen different viewpoints, I came to the conclusion that the author enjoys writing in multiple perspectives. This is needed in A Little Something Different as that is the concept of the novel and what sets it apart from others.
However, it is plain unnecessary in Been Here All Along as Ruby and Ezra don’t contribute anything essential to the plot. Ruby’s perspective I can somewhat comprehend to a certain extent as it shows the reason behind her actions, but Ezra’s is only there because all four of them are hiding a secret. Dual POV or even just Gideon’s or Kyle’s would have been a better fit. Furthermore, thanks to the quick change of viewpoints in one chapter I was not exactly able to get attached to the protagonists and it, moreover, causes the chapter to feel stuffed and empty simultaneously.
Light & Sweet
I felt like it had the potential to be suspenseful and gripping, but Hall refused to take the plunge since she wanted to keep it light and sweet, which I completely respect as that’s simply her theme. It’s doubtful she would ever write a dark romance.
Perfect For When You’re In Need Of…
Despite all of this, Been Here All Along is cute, easy and adorable and, thanks to its short length, the perfect book to read if you’re in a reading slump or simply in need of a feel-good novel.
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If you feel the need to read Been Here All Along now, you can buy the book here: Thalia | Amazon USA
