The Girl He Used to Know-Book Review
The Girl He Used to Know
Yesterday, I put off work in order to finish a novel I started the night before. I usually wait until the evening, after I’ve gotten some work things done before I sit down to read, but I was itching to get back to the story.
The book was The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves.
Obviously, I enjoyed the story.
Here is a book description from Goodreads:
“What if you had a second chance at first love?
Annika Rose likes being alone.
She feels lost in social situations, saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way. She just can’t read people. She prefers the quiet solitude of books or playing chess to being around others. Apart from Jonathan. She liked being around him, but she hasn’t seen him for ten years. Until now that is. And she’s not sure he’ll want to see her again after what happened all those years ago.
Annika Rose likes being alone.
Except that, actually, she doesn’t like being alone at all.
The Girl He Used to Know is an uplifting novel full of surprising revelations that keep you turning the page. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Gail Honeyman, Jill Santopolo and Sliding Doors.”
Annika
If you couldn’t tell from the description, Annika has Autism. Part of the book is set in 1991 so she doesn’t have an official diagnosis, but it is made pretty clear to the reader.
Though I don’t personally have Autism (that I know of), I felt like I could relate to Annika. I have generalized and social anxiety and her feelings in social situations were very similar to how I would feel in those same situations.
In one part of the story, she is at a party and she chooses to play with the cat instead of socializing with other people. That is exactly what I would do.
Annika also adores animals and is a librarian in Chicago. I absolutely love animals (I’ve got 3 cats and 1 dog) and I once wanted to be a librarian. I even got my master’s in Library Science!
Yes, that’s a real thing.
I also very much need my alone time. After I socialize with family or friends, I usually need a day or 2 to myself to recuperate. She seemed to require that even more than me.
One difference between myself and Annika is that she prefers the company of children over adults. No thanks.
The Relationship
The relationship between Annika and Jonathan was sweet to read (and in some parts kinda steamy!). I often enjoy reading stories of how couples get together, and this story didn’t disappoint.
This isn’t a spoiler, but Annika and Jonathan part ways, but eventually come back together. It was really sweet to see how much Annika had grown as a person during their time apart and how they still had such strong feelings for each other.
The ending was a bit odd and wasn’t completely necessary, but overall, I enjoyed the characters and the story!
