“I Wish You Would” was the perfect teenage love angst romance with a friends to lovers trope, that I didn’t know I needed.

About The Book:

In this drama-filled love story, private confessions are scattered on the beach during a senior class overnight and explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan.

It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom―when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.

When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves―what they wish they would do this year if they were braver―Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed―especially their own.

Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.

“Fame is proof that the people are gullible.”

My Thoughts:

Firstly, I have to admit, the cover was what made me start the book. I had other books I started reading and I immediately dropped them to make room for this one. And I am glad I did, because I devoured it in days! There is so much tension from the very start from both sides. I loved the double POV, so we knew how both Ethan and Natalia felt. But there were so many times where I shouted at the book: “Will you two just bloody talk to each other!” 🙂

“I try not to stare at her, but it’s an effort. The moody sky brings out the dark blue of her eyes, and the wind keeps lifting the tumble of her long hair away from her face. I realise with a significant gut drop that I could look at her forever and never get bored.”

The other part that really annoyed me was when Natalia would believe everything Claire says… 

“Thank you for helping me understand that no matter how good the education, some people are doomed to be ignorant. You’re such a lost cause, I bet your parents change the subject when their friends ask about you.”

I really liked the idea of the ritual for kicking off senior year. Pouring your heart out into a piece of paper and letting it go. The whole message of the book was bravery, and it made me think of what I would do if I was braver.

“I don’t want to be the kind of person who has to live up to everyone else’s opinions of me. Who even are you, then, if you’re constantly giving pieces of yourself away.”

Very short and sweet, it was a lovely novel to read. It has a great potential to be made into a movie, and I hope to one day see it on the big screen, and take credit for the idea. (just kidding) 🙂

“Akira Kurosawa was the first director to use slow motion as a turning point in his movie Seven Samurai. Somehow, he figured out before anyone else that there are moments in life when time slows down just long enough for you to realise that nothing will be the same once it speeds up again.”

It gave me a Nicholas Sparks vibe from “The Last Song”. I would definitely recommend it if you are a teen/YA romance fan, and especially if you are a fan of the “friends to lovers” trope.

About The Author:

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