Book Talk: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Ella and Matt, the new bass player in her friend’s band, meet the summer before her senior year after she’s just been dumped by her boyfriend months before. The night they meet deviates from what it ought have been and turns into a fun and crazy night of “saying yes” with Matt and her best friends. Six months later Matt leaves town and none of them hear from him….until he’s back and standing in front of Ella wanting to explain why he disappeared and wanting to recreate the night they met to show her he’s worth a second chance — something Ella isn’t sure can happen after he broke her heart and just left them all.

SUPER CUTE! Also, it would be really fun to have a night of saying yes like they do in the book but I’d be careful who I choose to partake in that hahah

This book was so cute & such an enjoyable summer read! I absolutely devoured it!

Here’s what worked for me:

1. The fact that it’s set in that summer after graduation and before freshman year of college: I remember that summer being such a BIG summer for me. It held all these infinite possibilities and your head got carried away with dreaming and planning and imagining. But it also produced so much nostalgia within — even though you hadn’t left already things were starting to look and feel different to you. Everything felt SO significant — this is the last time we would all be here together and doing this before everything changed. There was also fear and anxiety of the unknown. All of this that I can remember so clearly these 11ish years later? This is what Lauren Gibaldi wrote SO well in The Night We Said Yes. I could feel all that pulsing through these characters.

2. The juxtaposition of the romance storyline: Every other chapter alternates from the present (in which she is still missing Matt, who she never heard from again after he moved, and is now confronted with him when he returns to town) and the first night she MET Matt that sparked their relationship and is charged with so much of that energy that comes with crushing and falling for someone. Because of the alternating chapters, there is this constant tugging of emotions — okay, sometimes it felt like an explosion — as you feel that giddy first night as they fall for each other juxtaposed by the hurt/betrayal/confusion that’s laced with a longing that hasn’t stopped since he left. You feel that push and pull of her confusing feelings towards him intensely because we are getting the ups right next to the downs rather than in a linear way. This book was so sweet and romantic but MAN did my heart hurt for her through this whole thing.

3. The short time frame & how fun their night of saying yes to things played a part: Sometimes I love books that take place in a day and sometimes they fall flat for me. This one DEFINITELY worked for me. I loved that each storyline (the past and present one) took place in one night — the night they meet and the night they are reunited. Both nights have this theme of “saying yes” to anything that is proposed — which could be dangerous and a bad idea but was totally fun! It had that carefree feeling of being young and it kind of inspired me to tap into my teen spirit a little bit as I approach 30 in October and say yes a little more & push the limits like I feel like I used to be totally up for more often than I am now.

4. Excellent friendships: I loved Ella and her best friend Meg but I also loved the whole group of friends they had and all the complexities within it! I will say I honestly felt more depth with their friend group than maybe the individuals themselves? Like I liked the characters but THEY didn’t necessarily stand out to me individually as much as the group did.

There was an element that prevented it from ever getting to a LOVED IT type read BUT SPOILERS:

[spoiler]Okay so MATT’S BIG DISAPPEARANCE. I had a hard time swallowing and accepting it. On one hand I was like WEAK, MATT. Like I get that your problems are legit but enough to make you go completely MIA?? Then I’m also not a teen boy but an almost 30 year old woman. Also, I know how sometimes being wrapped up in your shit sometimes it’s paralyzing to let others in BUT I found it a little extreme. I think also I just couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t open up to her about it based on how he felt about her. But again..this is my 30 year old brain thinking. I don’t know…I just think that aspect of the story could have been stronger. [/spoiler]

+PLUS+ how adorbs it was, the romance,  the writing, the FEELINGS
-MINUS-  the depth of Matt’s disappearing act, the characters didn’t themselves really stand out to me even though I still related to them if that makes sense?

contemporary YA lovers, people looking for a book set between high school and college, readers looking for a cute romance

The Night We Said Yes was a perfect read for a summer day — it had the sort of plot that kept the pages turning furiously and the romance that just was so unbelievably cute yet complex. The whole book was just hella fun while at the same time giving me a little kick of inspiration and nostalgia as I related to the story personally.

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
What did you think about Matt’s disappearance? (label spoilers please!)