Review: You Knew Me When by Emily Liebert

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There's less than a month until the release of Emily Liebert's debut novel, You Knew Me When, so I've decided to (re)review it! If you follow me on Goodreads or on YouTube, you'll know that I've already reviewed this book.

Note: I received this as a Goodreads First-reads winner and (sadly) have not been paid to write a review for the book.


I'm going to start off by saying that this isn't normally my type of book. I don't even completely know why I entered the giveaway other than the fact that it's a book about friendship. BUT now, I really love this book. 

The premise of the novel is actually pretty interesting (the synopsis is extremely long so I'm not pasting it here), and although I don't normally like books that switch perspectives much less time frames, it's extremely well done in the book. The switching of POVs allows you to look at each situation from both sides, and it makes you ache for Katherine and Laney's (lost) friendship even more. The changing time frames was well done because it not only added to the story, but as the period changed, so did the POV, not in terms of the characters but rather from first to third person. It made the transitions smooth, and you always know whether you're in the past or the present. It worked favorably because the past moved in the opposite of the present so that only by the end of the novel do you know the entire story of what split the girls up, and it has a much more powerful impact. 

This book really made me think about the friends that I have and how friendships work. We always wonder whether or not we'll stay friends with the people we're friends with now, and this book makes you possibly rethink that answer. The book may be considered chick-lit, which I usually don't read, but it's fantastic. I'll be honest; I cried during certain parts of this book. I wasn't expecting to, but it's just so real, especially if you've ever lost a childhood friend along the way. (Also, there's a really cute (sort of) couple, and I just want to squeal over them, but that's a different matter.)

My one concern is that while the main and major characters are extremely complex and well thought out, the minor characters (this doesn't include Grant, Laney's husband (whose name I'm blanking out on), or Laney's daughter (whose name I'm also forgetting at the moment)) are much more bland and one-dimensional. Of course, this can be expected, given that they are minor characters, but Emily Liebert does such a great job of crafting the important characters that the others just felt...empty. Also, you could basically piece together what happened between Katherine and Grant in the past, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. ;)

All in all, I'd recommend this book, perhaps not to someone that only reads fantasy, adventure, and action books, but I'd suggest trying it out even if it's not normally your type of book.

Rating: 4.5/5
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You Knew Me When comes out on September 3rd. (You Knew Me When on Goodreads)
You can find Emily Liebert on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, or her official website.