Review: The Life We Almost Had, Laura Miller

Back before everyone left the little town of Sweet Home to the ghosts, she was the girl next door. And he was the boy, who could never get on her father’s good side. But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that her heart had picked him.

But that was years ago. And now, Berlin’s sister is praying for someone to show up to take her brother’s mind off the girl from his past. And surely enough, that someone does. But will this girl be able to cut the chains of his first love or will she just make him fall harder for that little girl he left behind in Sweet Home, Missouri?

One week is all they have.

Hey you! I need to tell you something. I'm supposed to write a review for this book, but God knows I don't have any clue to how to do it, or where to start. Yeah, Laura does these things to people. So brace yourself!

If you read my last review about When Cicadas Cry you certainly know that I'm a fan of her stories, and I tend to talk and write like there's no tomorrow. I can't help it. This time I need to be careful though. I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll try my best to get straight to where I think I would like to.

When Laura told me she was sending me an ARC of her new book I got so excited that I got to the point where I was really bothering the mailman. Thank goodness he is my uncle and lives on the next door. So I received the book last week, but I'm not a fast reader - sometimes I need to take a break, breathe and convince myself that I'm not going to murder the character, and I was so tempted on doing that in this book - that's why it took me a while to get to share with you my thoughts about this one.

Well, The Life We Almost Had is a love story about a couple - Berlin and Iva. They meet when they are still kids in a small town called Sweet Home. The thing is that Sweet Home truly does justice to the small town kind of stuff, and the book just starts like that. In the prologue we get to learn how it was to live there in the past, and how on earth this tiny, but sweet town turned out to be Gaspar's home. It looks like no one stays there. That's not a spoiler, by the way. So don't kill me. In those same first pages we first hear the name of Angel and Berlin.

Berlin is not only the boy next door, he is also Iva's best friend. They're twelve in the beginning, and despite their age, they fall hard for each other, and it's so beautiful I can't even dare to explain how pretty and pure is their relationship. They fall in love, fight for what they have and make plans just so life can show up and tear them apart. No one stays in Sweet home. Remember? Time goes by and after seven years they find each other again, but things' changed. Life's changed. They're changed. And now Berlin and Iva need to face what they once almost had, and what they've got right now: family, dreams, careers and love. Because there's always love, and they only have one week to figure it all out. 

With chapters that alternate between past and present - something we get to see a lot in Laura's books - the narrative is mostly told by Iva's point of view. Make sure to enjoy every single one and please, LOVE chapter 19. And if you are brazilian like I am, be ready to find one of the most precious word of our language. No other one has it. Not with this so well explained meaning. Thank you for giving us that, Laura. I can't stop opening my book to keep seeing that word. 

So that is it. Once again Laura gives us a simple and light story. One that doesn't need great events to beautiful and meaningful. That greatness is in the little things, and that's more than enough.

The Life We Almost Had in its simplicity carries a huge load of sensitiveness which is impossible not to love. 

P.S. I mentioned that I got mad at some point during the reading. I'm more than glad to say that I'm pure love now. 

Pre-order your copy on Amazon. TLWAH will be relesead on September 19th.