When You Were Everything

By: Ashley Woodfolk

Narrated by: Imani Parks

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

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 16-year-old girl's friend breakup through two concurrent timelines - ultimately proving that even endings can lead to new beginnings.

"Stunning." (Nic Stone, best-selling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out)

You can't rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again.

It's been 27 days since Cleo and Layla's friendship imploded.

Nearly a month since Cleo realized they'll never be besties again.

Now Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex-best friend. But pretending Layla doesn't exist isn't as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she's assigned to be Layla's tutor. Despite budding friendships with other classmates - and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom - Cleo's turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both.

Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love.

"Breathtakingly beautiful.... Woodfolk has a way of making words sing and burst with light." (Tiffany D. Jackson, award-winning author of Monday's Not Coming and Let Me Hear a Rhyme)

©2020 Ashley Woodfolk (P)2020 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"This book has everything I want and gave me a few things I didn't understand I needed. Wise and melancholic, gorgeously nostalgic, Woodfolk's stories pummel your heart and make you stronger for it." (Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always)

"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." (Nic Stone, New York Times best-selling author of Dear Martin and Jackpot)

"A deeply nuanced portrait of friendship, growth and the intolerable discomfort of change, When You Were Everything may be a story about a fight but it’s one where you find yourself on everybody’s side. This is a heady, heart-squelching book. I loved it." (Mary H.K. Choi, New York Times best-selling author of Emergency Contact and Permanent Record)

Must read

Don’t sleep on this book. It was so beautiful and heart-breaking. I’ve never felt so connected with a character. Lovely story

Needed to listen to this

I’ve been going through a best friend breakup myself and, honestly, this was such a beautiful way to feel understood and listened to. I loved the way this book explored their friendship and how, everyone can make mistakes but, still, shows the beginning, the middle and the end of something or someone who was important to us and how, we have to move forward even if it’s hard and we miss them all the time. This was amazing and I will remember this book for a long time.

Loved it!!

This was a well written often story about things that truly happen sometimes in friendships

I thought the then and now was.

I honestly thought the book was amazing and I could relate to a lot of things and I feel like she got into so much detail on how it actually felt and I could so relate to it.

I definitely recommend reading this book because if you had a hard time fitting in sometimes or you just lost a best friend of yours because it really just gets into the details on how it feels.😁

Beautifully Written

Wow. I recently went through a heartbreaking best friend breakup, and I remembered seeing this book in passing a few years prior. I bought it and listened to it the day after our friendship ended. I have never felt so validated and understood. I truly connect with this character. The way the feeling of losing someone who meant the world to you in a way it makes you lose trust in other friendships and romantic relationships was portrayed was flawless and it was perfectly captured in this book. Amazing.

AMAZING!!!!

I had this book sitting on my shelf for a year Bc I was reading other books…let me tell you I definitely should have read this book sooner.. OMg I feel in love with the characters and the story was so well written… you have to read.

I’m not crying… you are.

A Coming of age story, which is always a winner in my book. To love friends and then lose them feels universal.

Lots of teenage drama

Eh! Lots of cliches on teenage drama. Thought it would be a little more creative. I’d skip it…