An excellent cast of fun, relatable characters to liven up the old boy-meets-girl story in What If by LZHS’s own Amy Pine, library media specialist. 

Griffin Reed returns in this sequel to If Only, sadder and messier than he was before. Having suffered a broken heart, he does the natural thing: goes out and drinks and starts fights. His family is worried immensely about him, as is understandable, because Griffin is acting recklessly and unthinkingly.

To be fair, Griffin reacts quite humanly to both a broken heart and the huge pressure he faces from his father to follow in the man’s footsteps. His struggle is a conflict many must learn to deal with, and his major growth in the novel is learning to make his own path and break off from his father’s expectations, which can provide inspiration.

His love interest is the everyday girl-next-door, Maggie Kendall. Maggie is a fleshed out and well-rounded character, having a difficult backstory that is not at all cliché. Instead, her prior illness and attempts to move forward make her a valuable example to those living with health challenges. So often in romances, the backstory is canned, trite, and inconsequential to the story. It is refreshing to see Maggie take her own path separate from the love story.

That is another good thing about the love story: it is not just a love story. Both characters have their own struggles they must face and overcome on their own. ‘The power of love,’ shown often to be a magical cure-all, is merely an aid to help them overcome their respective obstacles. Maggie and Griffin are inspirational, and while they can spend a bit too much time wallowing in their troubles and falling victim to clichés, they are wholly human, relatable characters.

“Is the content for everyone? No. Of course not. Is it predictable? Sure,” posted Kelley, a member on the Goodreads forum. “But honestly, there were so many moments in this book that were relatable to things I experienced at that age. That’s what kept me hooked—the desire to see them be successful in the end. Was this book all sunshine and rainbows? Not always, and that is refreshing.”

Maggie’s best friend Miles is the best part of the book. He’s sassy and flamboyant, and truly cares for Maggie while keeping her safe but pushing her out of her comfort zone. And though the word bisexual is never mentioned, Miles displays attraction to both men and women, making him another good character for representation. Colorful and unique, Miles truly completes the cast with his own flair.

“The secondary characters were fantastic, too,” wrote another Goodreads user, Marie, on the forum. “I liked Griffin’s sisters, and I loved Maggie’s best friend, Miles. He was incredible. I’m definitely rooting for him to get his own book. […] It was also amazing to see some familiar faces.”

The beloved characters from If Only return for a few chapters, bringing a strong connection between the books. Those chapters are a beautiful blend of old and new faces, and Pine weaves together pieces of her universe flawlessly.