Book Review: While We're Young by K. L. Walther

 

Filled with fun adventures, romance, forgiveness, and that reckless abandon high school seniors are bound to embrace, While We're Young by K. L. Walther is a young adult romance that is certain to gain legions of fans.

Friends since childhood, Grace, Isa, and Everett were once inseparable. That was until freshman year, when Isa and Everett dated and then broke up. Since then, Grace, who is totally in love with Everett--unbeknownst to him, secretly helps Everett out wth babysitting while supporting her best friend Isa, who she is sure wouldn't understand Grace's commitment to Ev. Meanwhile, Isa and Grace's brother, James, have a secret of their own. Isa has been putting off telling Grace about their blossoming relationship because she's certain Grace won't like them dating. Feeling off-kilter since freshman year, Everett is struggling with demons he hasn't shared. 

Desperate to reunite their trio before they all head off to college, Grace coordinates a senior skip day of epic proportions. She thinks her careful planning is perfect, but when James figures something is afoot, he races to find his sister and uncover her dastardly plot.

Oh, my gosh! I loved everything about While We're Young. Inspired by Ferris Bueller's Day Off, this young adult romance is much deeper and richer than the movie. Freshman year changed the three-way friendship among Grace, Isa, and Everett. Since that time, Grace has felt that she has to pretend to keep Ev at arm's length to support Isa, whose parents are determined only top Ivy League colleges will help her be successful in life. Neither Grace nor Isa realizes how much a family tragedy impacted Everett, and he certainly doesn't grasp the impact it had on his besties. 

James, meanwhile, used to be so close to his sister, but Grace and he are on different roads. She is the senior class president, beloved by the staff, faculty, and the student body, but the only thing James will be known for is detentions. And he really doesn't much care. In a desperate hunt to expose what Grace and her friends are up to, he unfolds one of his infamous plots, bringing humor and antics to an otherwise emotionally tense storyline.

Walther was wise in how she plotted out While We're Young. There are so many intense feelings in what happened in high school for these three friends, that if it wasn't lightened by this unofficial senior skip day and James's pursuit, the novel would have been draining. This story ends on such an amazing note for all four characters that the reader is totally satisfied with the conclusion, even though so much of their lives is left unwritten. 

Funny and romantic, I highly recommend While We're Young. 

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D22KPSG2
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Delacorte Romance (March 4, 2025)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 4, 2025
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 2.5 MB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

• Print length ‏ : ‎ 376 pages

I received a free digital copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.