Been Here All Along ~ Sandy Hall (earc) review [@iamsandyhall @SwoonReads]

Been Here All Along
Swoon Reads
August 30, 2016
240 pages
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Gideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having his choice of colleges. They do NOT include falling head over heels for his best friend and next door neighbor, Kyle. It’s a distraction. It’s pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn’t know what to do.

Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can’t quite figure out what he did wrong…

This review may contain some spoilers . . . 

If it's possible for a book - and it's characters to be too nice then that's what happened with Been here All Along. Everyone's too nice and too accepting. I don't even mean when it comes to other characters' sexuality, That worked fine and was a nice change of pace from all of the drama that can (also realistically) be present in other novels.

It was more that everything I anticipated would throw a character off balance, that would freak them out or cause some sort of turmoil . . . didn't. Or if there was an sense of upheaval, it was minimal and/or short lived.

Like with Gideon and Kyle. They've been best friends for twelve years but Gideon realizes how he now feels about Kyle and seems rather quickly completely alright with it. Not even factoring in that they're both male, I thought the 'best friends for twelve years' part plus the new 'in love with him' part would have been cause for a bit of freaking out. Or more of it.

Gideon and Kyle were very cute together and I liked seeing the progression of their relationship and the different ways they were. I think I wish there were more scenes between but it may really have been that the ones there were all so even and sweet and kind and okay that I really wanted the emotion - of whatever kind - kicked up a bit.

Ruby was one of those secondary characters that I wish we were going to see more of. She seemed to have the most thrown at her and was the one not quite ready to be accepting and okay with it. (Quite understandably.) I liked her and still want to know what the future holds for her.

This is a sweet, cute story and the accepting characters and actions were a, usually, nice change of pace but a bit more conflict or uncertainty would have made for a more enjoyable, memorable read.







received from publisher for review, via NetGalley