Review: What If by A.J. Pine

What If 
(If Only #2)
Author: A.J. Pine
Release Date: December 8, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: Entangled Publishing
Review by: Nahomi

During his semester abroad, Griffin Reed almost gave his heart to a girl who loved someone else. Lesson learned. Now he’s home, where following in his father’s footsteps may not be what he wants, but it’s what his parents expect. It might be taking the easy road, but he doesn’t see a way out.

Something that could have killed Maggie Kendall took away the person she used to be instead. Her condition makes her dependent on sticky notes, photos, and medication just to get through each day. The last thing she needs is a distraction—or someone new to disappoint.

What they refuse to see is they are perfect for each other. Maggie makes Griffin want to be a better man, and he makes her believe a future is possible. But these two have to find a way to share the secrets ripping them apart, if they’re ever going to have a chance at happiness.

*I received and eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars out of 5 stars

I am so glad that I read this book. Getting to see what happened to Griffin after he got home from his time in Europe was great. Griffin was one of my favorite characters from the previous book because he's just so easy going and lovable and I got to see more than just his fun loving side in this story. I love that the characters from If Only made a cameo and we got to catch up on how their lives are turning out as well.

This story has a steady pace which at times tended to slow down at times. The climax was suspenseful but fell a little flat for me because in reality it was Maggie's lack of wanting to communicate which caused most of the conflict. There was a large amount of internal dialogue from Maggie which on occasion was annoying. I get that Maggie didn't want to be a burden to anyone but she was really hard headed for most of the book. Other than her constant mental flogging I liked Maggie. She is a strong woman that has worked hard to recover and found a system that works for her so that she doesn't have to depend on anyone too much.

I love how Griffin's character evolves as the story progresses. In this aspect What If is a coming of age story because Griffin is trying to decide what he wants to do with his life and decides to break free of his obligations no matter the consequences and do what makes him happy.

Griffin and Maggie's relationship starts out as a no strings attached type of relationship and progresses from there. It's not instalove but they were kinda crushing on each other from the beginning, which set the tone for how the rest of their relationship went. Griffin was really sweet and had me swooning at how thoughtful he was at times.

Overall this is a sweet story of two people trying to find their place in this world and it's definitely worth reading. A.J. Pine does a great job of portraying the angst involved in making the hard decisions.