Review: If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz

I use Grammarly's plagiarism checker because I want to be original. And I use their spell check because although misspellings and autocorrects can sometimes be humorous, they can also be the bane of my existence. I would rather prefer to never get Santa and Satan mixed up in a holiday greeting again... Just spell check next time with Grammarly.

Title: If Only We by Jessica Sankiewicz
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 4, 2013
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Drama
Medium: Signed Paperback Review Copy! Thanks Jessica!!

 I began reading If Only We with an open mind. From the back-cover blurb, it sounded like a story that could go either way with me, like I might enjoy it or I very well might not. Well, let me just say that the synopsis does not do it justice.

At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart. Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong. And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake. -From Amazon.com

The plot was undeniably addicting. Though the beginning was slightly slow, as soon as the real story picked up, you were instantly enticed. The plot is very original, of course, focussing around the theme of time travel and second chances. You are given an insightful look into what happens when you make a decision, and ultimately, how much happens when you make one minuscule decision. There are threads of family and unconditional love that run deep through this novel. Adrienne quickly learns that every decision has an ultimate consequence. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Although this is a scientific law, I believe it still applies in real and everyday life. It works as a very good hook for this novel as well.

Moving on, I felt the writing in this novel was also very nice. The writing was very conversational and easy to read, and also very easy to fly through. The writing displayed in this novel was also very stark, and in a good way. Sometimes in novels, author's try to flesh out their writing too much, whether to increase the word and page count, or just because they are that type of writer that likes to draw everything out. Depending on their writing capabilities, I don't always like this. But with If Only We, this did not happen. This writing was very simple and honest, very raw. Although it flowed slightly choppy at points, it was still a great accomplishment of writing, in the way that it was original, honest, and unique.

I also feel like I must touch on the characters. All of these characters, both main and secondary, were all realistic and rooted in normalcy, something that is sometimes very hard to find in today's literature. Adrienne was a very interesting main character, who adapted and changed in many ways throughout the novel. Also, I personally fell in love with Chevy's dynamic character and his personality. All the other characters in this novel were also very intriguing. Something that appealed to me was the way that every single character that appeared in this novel was necessary. There was no filler in this novel, no 'fleshing' and I really liked it.

Overall, this novel is an original and raw novel of love and heartbreak, and how one decision can
change everything. And about just much your life can change with a second chance.