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megan's Reviews > If Only

If Only by Richard Paul Evans
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bookshelves: romance, read-2015

This book was one that I bought on impulse. I wanted to buy a book because I had money, and what else would I spend money on? I saw this cover and read the description and it seemed to be a cute light read. I wasn't blown away (I wasn't expecting to be), but I also wasn't disappointed.

The thing that annoyed me most was this: when Eric first invites Grace to live in his backyard clubhouse, he says this:

I suddenly remembered Grace and felt a strange excitement.

During the summer Joel and I trapped animals in the spring box traps we found in the garage. The traps didn't hurt the animals but we quickly learned that setting them free could pose a problem, as the animals were usually in a pretty foul mood by the time we got to them..."


He continues to ramble on (oh yeah, there's a lot of rambling too) and then says this:

This morning I felt like I had trapped something really big in the club house.


Like, did Eric not feel strange about comparing this girl to an animal? Moreover, how did Richard Paul Evans not feel uncomfortable with this analogy? Maybe it's just me, but that passage just made me feel a bit uneasy.

Then, we have a conversation between Eric and Grace that literally made me roll my eyes.

"I'm kind of like Anne Frank."

"Who?"

"Anne Frank."

"Does she go to our school?"


Um..does Eric live under a freakin' rock? How do you not know who Anne Frank is. Eric is only 14 years old, but I knew who she was by the time I was..maybe 11 or 12. Just little things here and there that could have been improved.

Other than that, let's get into why this book was an enjoyable 3 stars.

I'd say my number one reason is Grace. She was such a lovely character and she spoke her mind and I had complete and utter empathy for her even before I found out what happened to her for her to run away from home. Here was one of her diary entries:

Last night, Eric bought me a two-week-old newspaper. There was an article about a riot that started when a negro enrolled at the University of Mississippi. It seems strange to me that we could put a man in outer space but have trouble putting a black man in college.


And here's something she said to Eric:

"You live in this world where you think that deep down inside everyone means well and monsters are make-believe. It's not true. People aren't all good. And there really are monsters."


This story has a premise unlike anything I've ever picked up before. A guy holding a girl in his backyard? Not for kidnapping purposes, but to help her? That's one of the reasons I bought this book so quickly after reading the back.

Anyway, this book warmed and broke my heart at the same time and I don't regret reading it in any way. If you're looking for something light and that actually has a relationship that grows out of friendship and trust, you might want to give this one a try.
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Reading Progress

November 22, 2015 – Shelved
November 22, 2015 – Shelved as: to-read
November 23, 2015 – Started Reading
November 23, 2015 – Shelved as: romance
November 24, 2015 – Shelved as: read-2015
November 24, 2015 – Finished Reading

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