When You Were Everything

Product Information

The same song was playing the second I met my ex–best friend and the moment I realized I’d lost her.

What a sweet sweet book about a girl, Cleo, who was abandoned by the person she loved most in the world: her best friend. Following a month of pain and sorrow, she looks for the chance to gain closure and move on from the bestie who will never be hers again. She is able to meet new friends and make new memories along the way. I absolutely loved one of our side characters, Dom, and the book’s ending. Perfect for high school and early college readers, Woodfolk tells the story of imploded friendships well. Review: I thought I had prepared myself emotionally for Ashley Woodfolk’s latest book, When You Were Everything. The book follows Cleo as she copes with the aftermath of a devastating friend break-up with her BFF Layla. She wants to move on, but sometimes, friend break-ups are the hardest ones to move on from. Having experienced my own friend break-up a few years ago, I knew this book would, as we used to say in the 2010s, hit me right in the feels. And it did. Oof. The self- and life-defining nature of grief and loss captured so well by authors such as John Green is explored here with humor, intelligence, and grace.” For fans of Nina LaCour's We Are Okay and Adam Silvera's History Is All You Left Me , this heartfelt and ultimately uplifting novel follows one 16-year-old girl's friend breakup through two concurrent timelines - ultimately proving that even endings can lead to new beginnings. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment and for validating my feelings as YA is so saturated with romance! I'm sorry to hear about how you're reeling from your experience with that friendship, I hope you have the space to process and honor your feelings in a way that works best for you. I hope you are doing well during these trying times too!

Review

Few things are more traumatic for teen girls that losing a best friend. In When You Were Everything, we witness the pain and sorrow and rage that occurs when besties forever, Cleo and Layla, fall apart. At the same time, Woodfolk shares the healing process in When You Were Everything. I loved seeing Cleo learn to trust Sydney, another girl she befriends. Woodfolk shows how it takes Cleo time to trust Sydney after Layla broke her heart, and even though it takes time, Cleo learns to open up again and share herself, her joys and her pains. Watching Cleo’s healing process gave me hope for my own healing process and motivated me to celebrate the close friendships I do have right now, despite some of my past ones that have burned me. Woodfolk includes some additional subtle yet brilliant insights throughout the novel too, such as how sometimes you just have to go through your pain instead of trying to erase it, as well as how sometimes you idealize someone and have to learn to see them for who they really are, instead of who you want them to be. I enjoyed seeing how Cleo opens herself up to new friendships and learns to see what’s in front of her instead of living inside her own head so much. There’s a sweet romance too, but it’s less important than what Cleo learns about herself and about friendship. When you were everything“ perfectly captures what going through a friendship breakup feels like and i feel like there needs to be more books about this topic since i don‘t think it is talked about nearly enough. Cleo is one of the most relatable characters i‘ve ever read about and i didn‘t expect to relate to her as much as i did. Friend breakups are HARD! Especially when it comes to the other person joining a friend group. Middle school, almost everyone is on the same level. Popular kids, nerds, band kids, etc… Those groups are just slowly rising. HighSchool is where the groups begin. Think about all the friends that you had and lost just because of the social standings of going into a group. (Also a group that Despises you).

Although this book is about a friendship imploding, it’s also about friendships blossoming. When Cleo and Layla have a fight during their tutoring session, Cleo’s new friend, Sydney, shows up at her call. Not only does Sydney show up for her, she makes Cleo face the painful truth: The mac beth aspect of this entire story brought everything beautifully together and the character development we see Cloe go through by experiencing new things as well as by analysing the macbeth play, she grows a lot by the end and is in my opinion not only a better version of herself but also a better version for open and new friendships. Summary: You can’t rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again. It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded. Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again.Although the book ends there, there is something beautiful about the possibility. Layla and Cleo choose to let both their relationship, and their pain go, so they can finally be untethered from one another and explore the world by themselves. You. Were. Right. Let’s erase her. Eradicate her from your life as much as humanly possible…you have to get over her” (168).

A stunning story that speaks to the deeply human need to love and be loved in myriad ways—and to the power we each wield over those closest to us.” The cast of characters is nicely diverse, and I liked the way the story includes the importance of family and the impact of parents’ and grandparents’ support, love, and involvement. Despite the sadness of the end of a friendship, the book ends on a hopeful note. ALRIGHT, here we go. Am I well rested? No. Will this coffee work miracles? I hope so. Do I regret reading this book in nearly one sitting and foregoing sleep, thereby compromising my cognitive and intellectual abilities for likely the entire day today? No.The thing I didn’t realize about having a best friend while I still had one is just how wrapped up she is in everything I do. Every outfit I wear or song I listen to. Every place I go. Losing someone can leave you haunted.”