We Used to Be Friends

By: Amy Spalding

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Cassandra Morris

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Two best friends grow up - and grow apart - in this innovative contemporary YA novel 

Told in dual timelines - half of the chapters moving forward in time and half moving backward - We Used to Be Friends explores the most traumatic breakup of all: that of childhood besties. At the start of their senior year in high school, James (a girl with a boy's name) and Kat are inseparable, but by graduation, they're no longer friends. James prepares to head off to college as she reflects on the dissolution of her friendship with Kat while, in alternating chapters, Kat thinks about being newly in love with her first girlfriend and having a future that feels wide open. Over the course of senior year, Kat wants nothing more than James to continue to be her steady rock, as James worries that everything she believes about love and her future is a lie when her high-school sweetheart parents announce they're getting a divorce. Funny, honest, and full of heart, We Used to Be Friends tells of the pains of growing up and growing apart.

©2020 Amy Spalding (P)2019 Recorded Books

The title should have been a clue

The performances by the narrators were the best part of this book. The ending is one of those books where you think “really? That’s it?” I had such hope for the book and friends James and Kat but the author didn’t. Guess I should have read the reviews before buying.

Heartbreaking story about friendship!

“Have a good life, James. Have fun in Berkeley or wherever you’re going.”

“Yeah,” she says. “You too.”
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Expectations are the worst.

The first time I saw this book on Twitter, I immediately decided to add this on my must-read list because I rarely encounter a book focusing on the story of losing your best friend.

And this book talks about before-college friend break-up, the kind that you feel after high school but make it messier and add a lot of unsaid thoughts.

James and Kat are bestfriends since their childhood but during their senior year, the bond between them collapsed because of undefined reasons.

Is it due to James' parents' separation and her breakup with Logan? Or is it because of Kat's wreck-lationship with Matty that led her to first girlfriend, Quinn? Or maybe their friendship is nearing its expiration date already and they are not destined to be friends until college?

I love the idea of tackling friendship issues especially this kind that is rooted since childhood days. I love that both characters are developed with their unique characteristics but I think their distinction about view in life is what led them to the end of their friendship.

James is the athlete and planner while Kat is the carefree and popular and the duo was born when they were paired in kindergarten and then the rest was history. I am convinced with the entire James-Kat friendship and their vibe is not strange to what is happening in real life. But I think I hate it when both of them sacrificed their connection because of lack of communication.

Communication is important to any relationship and both James and Kat are at fault for letting their shortcomings in this aspect affect their friendship because reading this book was completely heartbreaking.

One thing I did not like about this is the interactive reverse timeline which made my audiobook experience conflicting as I has to keep repeating some of the chapters.

Overall, an enjoyable book but not highly recommendable.

RATING: 2.5stars