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The Girl He Used to Know
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
New York Times bestselling author of On the Island, Tracey Garvis Graves, presents the compelling, hopelessly romantic novel of unconditional love. Annika (rhymes with Monica) Rose, is an English major at the University of Illinois. Anxious in social situations where she finds most people's behavior confusing, she'd rather be surrounded by the order and discipline of books or the quiet solitude of playing chess. Jonathan Hoffman joined the chess club and lost his first game--and his heart--to the shy and awkward, yet brilliant and beautiful Annika. He admires her ability to be true to herself, quirks and all, and accepts the challenges involved in pursuing a relationship with her. Jonathan and Annika bring out the best in each other, finding the confidence and courage within themselves to plan a future together. What follows is a tumultuous yet tender love affair that withstands everything except the unforeseen tragedy that forces them apart, shattering their connection and leaving them to navigate their lives alone. Now, a decade later, fate reunites Annika and Jonathan in Chicago. She's living the life she wanted as a librarian. He's a Wall Street whiz, recovering from a divorce and seeking a fresh start. The attraction and strong feelings they once shared are instantly rekindled, but until they confront the fears and anxieties that drove them apart, their second chance will end before it truly begins.
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staci.reads
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

Didn't know what to expect going in. It was given to me by a friend. I found it charming and heartwarming. The last part was totally unexpected, but with a satisfying ending.

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TheSpineView
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Forrest Gump

Klou Brilliant!! 2y
58 likes2 comments
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SheilaChew
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
This post contains spoilers
show me

2001.
New York.
September, 2001.
Why didn‘t I see it coming?

2 likes1 stack add
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SheilaChew
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Audiobook!

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TheSpineView
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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#ConflictedWorlds @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#Disability

Loved this book. One of the main characters is mentally challenged and the author did such a good job with the plot.

Eggs Sounds like a great premise 👏🏻📚🤗 3y
TheSpineView @Eggs 👍🤩📖 3y
61 likes1 stack add2 comments
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BookMad7
Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

5/5 I absolutely loved this book! It made me cry like a baby. Read September 2020

4 likes1 stack add
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LaurenMags
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Mehso-so

A love story about a girl on the autistic spectrum. The time jumps back and forth from when they are in college to 10 years later. This book fell a little flat for me.

bourne.shell Totally agree. I loved the first half of the book, but feel like it's disconnects in the second half. Almost like it was a different story that I just couldn't engage in. 3y
LaurenMags @bourne.shell yes! It does feel like two different stories and it just let's you down. The book had potential. 3y
12 likes2 comments
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QueenG
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

Book 45
A beautiful love story about a beautiful girl with autism opening her heart for the first time and how hard it can be to do it and to even make friends. It teaches you how cruel kids can be to other kids for being different.

LoverOfLearning Sounds like a beautiful story! 4y
6 likes1 comment
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Allthingsbooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
Pickpick

The kind of read that left me feeling like I made two new friends. Endearing.

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poiuyt
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Life isn't easy for anyone. We all have challenges. We all face adversity. It's how we overcome it that makes us who we are.

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Shhh...IAmReading
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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I started this book on audiobook and it captivated me so much I was scared of finishing it for fear of ending the storyline and not being able to be a part of it after it ended. Weird, I know, but I usually grow so attached to books and their characters! I ended up semi restarting and began reading the book. Now I‘m a bit paralyzed. Something is happening that ties to extreme sadness and idk. I just want happiness for them😣 Has anyone read it?!❣️

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NeedsMoreBooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I have been in a weird state of mind over the past few days. This quick romantic novel was exactly what I needed. It focuses on Annika Rose and her boyfriend, Jonathan Hoffman. Set in 2 timelines, 1991 and 2001, Annika and Jon break up in 1992 to be reunited in 2011. The story details Annika‘s anxiety, social awkwardness, and diagnosis, and why they broke up. The ending is sweet and this book deals with important issues-bullying, autism, & society

BiblioLitten I‘m with you on the weird state of mind over the past few days. Even my dreams are weird. 🥴 4y
NeedsMoreBooks @BiblioLitten yes, thank you. I know that we are going through a world crisis but there doesn‘t seem to be a cause of my weirdness. Hugs. (edited) 4y
46 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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TheSpineView
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Jennifer3 I just started this one! 4y
TheSpineView @Jennifer3 I liked it. I gave it 4 stars. 4y
Eggs Great choice! 4y
54 likes4 comments
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ErinC
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book, but the ending felt a bit abrupt. This novel is the love story of Jonathan and Annika, a neurodiverse librarian. The characters felt very authentic and I liked the alternating POV and shifts in time. A quick read from a local author for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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GinaKButler
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Up next on audio! 🎧

TheSpineView Great story! 🤩 4y
11 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lovesbooks87
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I loved everything about this book. I loved Annika and Jonathan and how they fell in love with each other. What I loved even more was that this was a second chance love. The last 30 or so pages threw me for a loop and I was hoping that the book didn‘t have a sad ending. My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer maybe had an epilogue.

JennyM This one was lovely. Great review 4y
59 likes1 stack add1 comment
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eram10
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
Mehso-so

“I want to spend every waking day of my adult life surrounded by books.”

Jumping between the past & present, it is the story of Annika and Jonathan who meet in chess club while in college, fall in love, then get separated only to be reunited a decade later with a chance to reconnect and perhaps fall in love again.

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Cathy_J
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Mehso-so

I enjoyed reading this romance novel but unfortunately I was left feeling a bit unsatisfied when I finished it. ⭐⭐⭐ for me.

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Arvena
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Mehso-so

I expected something more! I found it boring...

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AriThomas
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

This was an adorable story about fitting in and love and trust. It's also based in Chicagoland, which is my hometowns so that's a bonus! I need more books set in the Chicagoland area...

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Sharpeipup
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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“Life isn‘t easy for anyone. We all have challenges. We all face adversity. It‘s how we overcome it that makes us who we are.”
#booknbrunch #quotes

36 likes1 stack add
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swishandflick
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this quirky romance! The ending threw me for a loop though, my heart skipped a beat in the last 30 pages.

Not bad at all for an impulse read that I found in the ship's tiny library. Not that I don't have plenty to read with me, but couldn't resist browsing. You know how it is 😉

📍 Castries, St. Lucia

93 likes1 stack add
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micamaldita
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

How different is it to fall in love and love someone who is different?

32 likes1 stack add
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TracyReadsBooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

Littens, I really liked this book. Jumping between the past & present, it tells the story of Annika & Jonathan who meet in chess club while in college, fall in love, & then get separated only to be reunited a decade later with a chance to reconnect & perhaps fall in love again. There‘s a twist I‘m not sure was necessary but it didn‘t stop me from enjoying the book. A fast read about being different or unique & finding someone who loves you for it.

19 likes1 stack add
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TracyReadsBooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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😂

There are days...

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TracyReadsBooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Going with something light & fun for the last day of school & the first weekend of winter break. I will confess this book caught my eye because some of the story takes place at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I grow up in Urbana-Champaign & got my BA at the U of I so yeah, I have to see what it‘s all about. Excited to see that the book gets good reviews. Sounds like a way to start the holiday break!

marleed It‘s so much fun to read a book taking place where you‘ve lived and absolutely believe you and the author are sharing a moment over a mentioned locale that you know only two of you will understand :) 4y
20 likes1 comment
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hwestfall
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I normally do not like romantic books. They seem cheesy and unrealistic to me. I picked this book up on a whim though because I loved the cover. I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed the story and finished it in a day.

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Nevertoobusyforbooks
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I devoured this book on a flight to San Diego. 4/5 ⭐️. Would have given it a perfect rating but the ending felt a little disjointed to me. I found myself really relating to Annika, especially the desire to hide under the covers with a book when faced with social situations 😬.

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monalyisha
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
This post contains spoilers
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Pickpick

I read this book in one sitting (90% of which was in the tub 😅). It‘s not that it was just THAT fabulous or compulsively-readable...I think I was just starved for adult fiction (I‘ve been limited to textbook-reading for months). It‘s your typical romance with a couple of unique bits; Annika is on the autism spectrum (which isn‘t clear from the blurb) & suddenly, towards the end of the book, the dates become hugely-significant. 👇🏻

monalyisha 1/2: The story alternates between 1991 & 2001. Without any fanfare or warning, September arrives. Nothing in the blurb or in the promotional material prepared me for this, but I wonder if that omission was intentional. No one was prepared for that day. 4y
monalyisha 2/2: What kept this story from being great was the character development. While Jonathan & Annika are both lovable characters, Jonathan is *too* perfect — which didn‘t keep me from swooning but it did keep him from feeling fully real. The author also makes a big deal out of Annika‘s looks, to the point where it almost felt like comical descriptions of when male authors write women. But it was a fast read, with a dash of depth. Just what I needed. 4y
Librariana Excellent review! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I'm tempted to agree that the omission was more than likely intentional so that as you said, the reader wouldn't necessarily be prepared and would perhaps experience the event the way Annika did. 4y
monalyisha @Librariana Decided to add a spoiler to my review. It isn‘t blatantly spoiler-y; I don‘t give any details away but...just saying that it happens at all could be interpreted as such. I wonder if any readers were upset about the omission, & if it‘s a trigger for them. In that case, though, I‘m sure the 2001 dates would have stood out to them as significant far sooner, & they could choose to put it down. 4y
Librariana I marked both my comments as a spoiler to be abundantly safe 😊 Probably not necessary, but still. And I agree that for many folks, it might certainly be a trigger. Although that isn't the case for me, I do find it difficult to go about my QC-style checks when adding materials about this event to the library catalog 😔 4y
17 likes5 comments
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monalyisha
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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“I‘ll think about it.”
Eric nodded. “Good. I bet you‘d like it.”
I would totally hate it and I purged the thought from my mind immediately.

😆🙌🏻

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SanjanaGhosh
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

This light hearted, not overtly cheesy, no nonsense love story made my flight so much more brighter!!

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bourne.shell
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Mehso-so

Parts felt clumsy and clunky and it was hard for me to connect to either of the main characters. And I get it. She's awkward yet beautiful. With all the character building in the first half of the book. I feel it gets thrown out in the second half, in favor of introducing a dramatic event that steals our attention. I know others love the twist. I didn't enjoy it. It felt like a different story at some points.

monalyisha Great review! I‘m with you on all of it! 4y
8 likes1 comment
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Mamashep
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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I really didn‘t like the last book I read by this author but this one‘s gotten such great buzz that I picked it up when I found it available at the library. It‘s infinitely better than that other book but I‘m not loving it. Too many things just don‘t work for me. Still I wouldn‘t give it just a so-so rating - there‘s plenty here I do like, including having a main character who‘s on the spectrum.

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elvinareads
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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This time I don‘t really mind the book spine because this book is so good! I want Jonathan!

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Quirkybookworm
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves

Hey gang! There‘s a huge Nook haul for 50% off!! Check it out at Barnes and Noble!!

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Nitpickyabouttrains
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I went into this book thinking it was a romance with a character on the spectrum. But at some point it turned into something else, bigger. More of a historical fiction of the early 2000s? I ended up liking it a lot.

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Book_ish
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Mehso-so

I hate to be in the minority here but I didn‘t love this as much as I‘d hoped. I liked it, don‘t get me wrong but I expected to love it 😔

Full Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2690750201?book_show_action=false&from_rev...

Mamashep Just getting around to it and I am not loving it. 4y
Book_ish Yes, it seems like one of those books that you love or you are indifferent to 😕 4y
monalyisha I just liked it, too. 🤷‍♀️ The writing‘s not particularly lush or dynamic. 4y
26 likes3 comments
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cjk
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Buechersuechtling Beautiful cover‼️😃 5y
cjk @Buechersuechtling Part of the reason I picked this one up. 😄 5y
Buechersuechtling @cjk Which I completely understand. 🙂 5y
8 likes1 stack add3 comments
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marleed
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

There‘s an element introduced at the end that I don‘t quite get, but okay. Otherwise, this book is sweetness, and as the reader, I just wanted good for Annika. As a woman I couldn‘t help wishing I were always a Janice.

Books like this to remind us that in this world where empathy must be our goal ... Be Jonathan. Be Janice.

marleed On another note, does anyone else completely confuse this title with the unrelated, Before She Knew Him!? 5y
SarahHarts_books I loved loved this book. Way more than I thought I would. I read it in two sittings. Not ideally the typical genre I go for. But for some reason I just really enjoyed this one. 💖 5y
marleed @SarahHarts_books I keep thinking about this and why I was so drawn to it. I think maybe because the focus was on the positive people in Annika‘s life rather than she against the world. 5y
monalyisha Great review & great takeaway! “Be Jonathan. Be Janice.” WWJD. 😉 4y
marleed @monalyisha I loved the approach to this book. So often (and a necessity) we read of someone with quirks moving through life as a victim of bullying. This book was about someone who deserved to be loved and the people who loved her. I really liked that. 4y
56 likes1 stack add5 comments
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YeishaLee
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I could not put this book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone. I love how this book is written with love and sensitivity! Took me a week to read (I have 3 jobs), so it shows how good this was. For anyone that struggles with mental health issues, this is a must read.

marleed I‘m reading now‘ 5y
YeishaLee @marleed oh you are going to love it! 5y
9 likes2 comments
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Bookish_B
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

Ok, fine. I loved this one too. I mean, don‘t we all want a Jonathan? The end almost felt like a completely different book for me so that sort of took me out of it a bit but that aside I really, really enjoyed this one!

DimeryRene Cute photo!! 5y
42 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Sharabies
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

I flew through this book. Knowing people on the spectrum, I felt Annika‘s character was very well depicted and I loved her the whole way through! A sweet love story. Personally, I felt that the last handful of chapters felt out of place from the rest of the story, but in no way did it spoil the overall feel of the book for me. Still a pick!

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AlisonM
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

Run and grab this book today...And also grab some tissues!!! Beautiful story of a woman on the spectrum, friendships, love and second chances. As a mom of someone on the spectrum, I pray each day my kiddo finds meaningful friendships and an unconditional love. I absolutely loved their journey. #Book16of2019

11 likes1 stack add
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MicheleinPhilly
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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WHOOPS! My thumb slipped. Repeatedly.

#KindleDailyDeal #KindleDeals

TrishB But look at them ❤️ 5y
Cailey_Mac Hahaha me too😅😅 5y
Hooked_on_books I hate it when that happens! (No, I love it when that happens. 😈) 5y
61 likes3 comments
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SarahHarts_books
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Going to try and see if I can squeeze in one last book this month! 😃

brit91 Sounds like a good read!!😎😎😎 5y
SarahHarts_books @brit91 I'm enjoying it so far. 😊💖 5y
BooknerdsLife What a beautiful photo! 💖 5y
SarahHarts_books @BooknerdsLife Aww! Thank you! 😍 5y
61 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Readswithcoffee
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

A sweet story about getting a second chance at love. The characters are quite endearing.

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UnabridgedPod
The Girl He Used to Know | Tracey Garvis Graves
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Pickpick

My friend Sara let me borrow Tracey Garvis Graves's The Girl He Used to Know after posting a fabulous review of the book on her blog (check it out here: https://buff.ly/2WA61tf). I agree with *almost* all of her review: the relationship between Annika and Jonathan is compelling and believable, (continued in comments)

UnabridgedPod and Graves's decision to alternate both perspectives and timelines worked beautifully to help us understand each character and the complex evolution of their relationship. I do, however, have some mixed feelings about the twist that my friend references. No spoilers here, but if you want to talk about the twist, DM me! I'd love to know what you think. 5y
16 likes1 comment