Book - The Girl He Used To Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

“I want to work at a library someday," I said. "I want to spend every waking day of my adult life surrounded by books."

The Girl He Used To Know begins in 2001, when Annika hears a familiar voice while grocery shopping in Chicago. She instantly recognizes him - It's Jonathan, her ex-boyfriend who she hasn't seen in 10 years. 

The story is told by the perspectives of both characters and goes back and forth between 1991, when they meet as students at the University of Illinois and 2001, the year they reconnect and start hanging out again. 

Back in the old days, Annika was a very shy young woman who'd feel extremely nervous in social situations. Her roommate Janice was a life savior, teaching her the ways to navigate through life. Annika's favorite hobbies were reading in her dorm room and going to chess club. One day, she is introduced to Jonathan by one of her playmates.

The two soon begin a romantic relationship. Jonathan was Annika's first boyfriend and everything she could ever ask for. He was loving and kind, and understood Annika's quirks and the challenges of dating her. The two were happier than ever and even made plans to live together in New York after they graduate. Until something tore them apart.

Ten years later, she is a librarian and he works in finance. Now that so much time has passed, they're forced to talk about what happened and confront their feelings. 

This book addresses something which is easy to capture at the beginning but is only mentioned far ahead in the story. It's also a story of true love, loneliness, second changes and forgiveness. 

I think the author made such an effort for Jonathan to be likable that he ended up being too nice, always knowing what to say and do, which I found unrealistic. The story also has a crazy coincidence at the ending, which ultimately added very little to the point of the story. 

This a cute romance novel. I wasn't blown away, but I recommend if you like books with peculiar characters. 

Rate: 3.5/5