“All We Once Had” by Katy Upperman was highly anticipated by many of her readers. It was released on Feb. 3. This novel is a second chance romance that follows the story of Piper and Henry as they reconnect after three years of not seeing each other after they talked about each other’s passions and shared a kiss on a random summer night. Both Henry and Piper are faced with complicated pasts and deep secrets that leave them to confide in each other. Piper and Henry have to confront their pasts in order to move forward and be present with each other.
Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the emotional depth that was explored throughout this book. The emotions displayed throughout the book that Piper and Henry shared with each other felt honest and deeply human because none of the topics such as grief and family relationships were sugar coated which can be common in young adult novels. Through the slow build up of emotions such as grief and guilt, the reader can see growth from both characters and how they healed from their traumatic pasts. For example, when Henry went over his past with his ex and how they struggled with a pregnancy scare, it wasn’t sugar coated to lighten up the story. I feel this is really important to read about such serious and troubling topics in a real way to have a better understanding of it. As you keep reading you get to see how the emotional depth slowly builds Piper and Henry’s connection as they share more about their pasts and their passions.
I also enjoyed how this book had two points of view. The reader gets to see both Piper and Henry’s story from their own perspectives. This helps put more depth and complexity into the characters and their development throughout the story. Reading through both Piper and Henry’s perspectives really makes the story easy to follow and give a better understanding of both characters. For example, we wouldn’t know some crucial information that affects both Piper and Henry’s relationship if we didn’t know both perspectives to the story. Having both POV’s made the story far more interesting than if it had been just Piper or Henry.
One thing that could have been done better was the pacing. During the beginning of the book, it felt really slow which made it a little hard to start. In some parts of the book, the writing is just describing the characters’ daily life, or them just complaining about their dad or sister. Some of these parts felt slow because they were boring and a little irrelevant to the story. While Piper’s sister and Henry’s Dad both played a crucial part in the story, it got a little old when Piper and Henry kept complaining about the same things in the beginning.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The romance and emotions were written in a real way that I feel a lot of teens could relate to. While the pacing of the book was off, it still had an amazing plot that was easy to follow. I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy reading romances with themes of family included as well. I would rate this book 4/5.
