Here's To Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
CW: Underage Drinking
5/5
Here's to Us is the sequel to What If It's Us, also by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. Please make sure you have read the first book before reading this one or this review.
It's two years since the events of What If It's Us and Ben and Arthur are now both in college. Unfortunately, not only are they not together, they haven't spoken in quite some time. Ben is a writing major, working for his dad, revising Wicked Wizard Wars, and in a FWB relationship with a beautiful guy. Arthur's college isn't in New York, but he's doing well in Connecticut, dating a total sweetheart. When a dream internship brings Arthur back to New York for the summer, old feels are brought to the surface. Ben and Arthur are forced to navigate being in the city that brought them together while sorting out their past.
When starting this book, I worried about not remembering the details of the previous one. I was hoping for a "Previously On" like the ones in TV shows. While there isn't one, there was no need to worry! Throughout the book, Albertalli and Silvera included just enough context to remind the audience of the details in What If It's Us without breaking the flow of Here's To Us. Everything is mentioned just when it needs to be. There are callbacks to the lighter stuff like the meet cute, the big cookies, Dylan calling Samantha his future wife, and how much Arthur and Ben's parents like each other. There are also reminders of the more serious events, such as Dylan's health, Ben's relationship with his heritage, and the homophobia they had faced on the subway. The book respects that the returning fans loved the first book but likely cannot hold on to every detail.
As per how I fell for Albertalli's writing, Here's To Us was delightfully Jewish. I don't recall What If It's Us including quite so much, and I am unsure if that's because I can't remember or if it truly was lighter. Weddings are a common theme in this sequel, allowing for L'dor va'dor to make it into the pages. This means "from generation to generation". I appreciated knowing that non-Jewish readers would get exposure to more important things than Hannukka or a B'nei Mitzvah party. In turn, I appreciated learning more about Puerto Rican culture through Silvera's chapters. It delighted me to test out my own Spanish skills while listening.
I cannot say I knew where the book was going at the start, and this was far from a bad thing. I enjoyed the journey, not knowing if it was a story about Ben and Arthur getting back together or a story about moving on from your first love. Mikey and Mario, the new love interests, are well developed characters that the readers will fall for. I am not going to spoil what kind of a story it is, but I will say that you'll be happy you came back to read the sequel. Albertalli and Silvera delivered on fan service and a quality story.
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