You Were There Too Review

Trigger warning: mentioning of miscarriages


 

 Ugh, the book was good until it got to the end...

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley is an adult contemporary romance novel with a dash of magical realism. Mia and her husband Harrison have just moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a small town called Hope Springs, thinking life would be easier for them. Instead, Mia has trouble finding a job that she can do with an art degree, and Harrison seems to be hiding something related to his job (he works as a surgeon in a small hospital) from Mia. Even worse, they have been struggling to have children as Mia has already had two miscarriages. 

While all of this is going on, Mia keeps having recurring dreams of her encountering a stranger. Well, she's actually been dreaming of this mysterious guy for years. Most of the dreams usually takes place in a carnival, and most of the dreams involve something tragic. Freakier still, Mia ends up finding the guy in real life! His name is Oliver, and he also lives in the same town. Oliver coincidentally has been dreaming of Mia for years, too. They try to solve the mystery of why they keep dreaming of each other, and what could it all mean. 

It sounds like a great story, right? It was...until the last couple of chapters. I can't tell you what it is because it would get into spoilers. Let's just say it's a complete downer of an ending that made me mad and sad at the same time. 

So I gave this book 3 stars. I also took some points off for the more triggering elements, like the aforementioned miscarriages. 

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