Special Shout out to St. Martin’s Press and the ladies at Smart Bitches Trashy Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this second-chance romance that follows the budding relationship between two souls finding each other over a 10 year period.
Annika Rose is a refreshing, delightfully open-hearted character. She is brave, and tougher than she thinks she is and I. Loved. Her. So. Much! Her struggles and perseverance in navigating social interactions was inspired in how it was depicted. Her determination was ever-present, even against the most awful circumstances.
Flanked by her ever-supportive mother and awesome best friend, Janice, Annika takes on the world one day at a time and I found her strength so inspiring!
Jonathan Hoffman is the hero of our story, but for the most part Jonathan was there simply to love Annika. There isn’t anything wrong with that in particular, but when it was his turn to narrate the story he came across as materialistic, cynical, or lost to me and I struggled to relate with him.
An interesting aspect of this book, though, is that it is told through the eyes of both characters. In that manner, you are able to view how the characters see each other, and that was very endearing. Annika and Jonathan are not perfect, but they are still so in love with each other.
Overall, “The Girl He Used to Know” was an endearing and light read, but there were a couple things that just did not jive for me, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t feel wonderful and heartfelt to another reader! For example, the conflicts felt forced to me, both the initial reason for Annika and Jonathan to break up, but also the finale. I felt for the characters at times, but could never become fully invested in their day to day lives or goals. There is no real plot as the story simply mimics life- because life just happens, and most of the time it is out of your control. Annika’s determination to push through that even when the odds were stacked against her was the driving force in this book for me.
Rating: 3 perfectly aligned stars of equal size and shape.
Leap to Fly 