The Girl He Used To Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

Tracey’s previous books have gotten a lot of praise for being well-written and well-liked by all. I was quite captivated by this story-line and excited to jump right in with her most recent novel.

Thank you St Martins Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book takes place in a few different timelines, past and present, as well as alternating viewpoints. Annika meets Jonathan by accident at college during a chess match. Annika has been playing chess at college with the same partner for awhile now and isn’t excited for the sudden switch-up (a nod to being on the spectrum which was a cool addition to the book). Turns out, they seem to get alone quite nicely and eventually start a solid relationship. As we go back to present day, Annika hasn’t seen Jonathan in over ten years. She’s in therapy to deal with things that have happened in the past, including something major that rocked Annika and Jonathan’s relationship to pieces. Now Annika has run into Jonathan for the first time in a long time. Can they begin to move on from what happened in the past? Will they get back together?

This book is a true story of romance. This is a story of a first real love and how it effects you for the rest of your life. If that doesn’t shake your emotions, than what will?! It’s a super easy read. It had me so captivated that I read it all in one sitting. The character development is so exceptional that it really boasts to be more than just a romance story. It’s more intricate than that, which I appreciate oh so much. I, like most people I’ve talked to about this book, was not a fan of the ending. It felt really rushed just to get a reaction out of the reader. The characters themselves seemed to really change in the end which made it feel unrealistic. For some people, that’s a total book killer. For me? I still really did enjoy this book! Worth the read in my opinion!

4/5 Stars