✨Julie✨'s Reviews > The Idea of You

I have thought about this book nonstop from the moment I picked it up. I read A LOT of books but it is rare that I find a book to be this compelling or provocative. I’m going to write this review as if these are real people because I have been thinking about my reactions and how I could respond with empathy if they were.

It would be easy to judge her decisions, and in some ways I do. She went in with the idea that there could be no happy ending. She expected someone to get hurt and I think that’s the part I can’t forgive. In her defense, I doubt she ever thought she would have the ability to hurt HIM. She likely thought it would be her that would be hurt if anyone. I also doubt that she thought things would ever go so far that her daughter or the people close to her would find out or need to be informed. No matter her age, women still want the same things. They want to be pursued, they want to feel wanted, they want to feel beautiful, and she found all of those things unexpectedly in him.

No matter how ill advised it may have been for them to enter into that relationship, it was clear that they found love and an authentic connection. I was struck by how genuinely lovely he was. He listened, he remembered every detail, he wanted to learn about her passions and know what brought her joy. Those are rare qualities at any age and it would be difficult for anyone to give that up. They had a lot of sex, but it felt more intimate than “just sex” from the start. They may have intended for it to be casual, but they both developed feelings relatively quickly and that came through in all of their interactions.

I happened to read The Last Song in tandem with this so of course I rewatched the movie which features a chiseled 19 year old Liam Hemsworth. I felt like the universe presented me with the perfect stand in for our Hayes whose description sounded very similar. Please go watch that first kiss scene and tell me honestly that you would be able to say no to that boy pursuing you. I’m gonna be honest and say I doubt I would be so strong. BUT, I also don’t have a thirteen year old daughter to think about so it’s hard to really put myself in her shoes. After a failed marriage and so close to forty, I imagine she would be even more affected by his attention. It’s not as if he were innocent. She was not even the first girl he dated with a significant age gap.

I found the ending to be extremely unsatisfying. *spoilers ahead* Maybe she was right and there could never be a happy ending, but the way things ended, it really felt like they could have been happy together if she had allowed it. I feel like the damage was already done when it came to her daughter. Since it’s too late to walk it back, why not just be happy?

I also don’t think it would be so awful for him to have quit the band. He was clearly unhappy and the one with the talent. What would be so wrong with him going solo and being more planted somewhere like L.A.? Maybe when it came down to it, she just couldn’t really see herself with him. If that was the case, it was very cruel to put him and her family through so much. Why give him the ultimatum to choose her if she didn’t truly want to be chosen.

As I said, I have thought about this book incessantly. Sorry if I sound unhinged. 😅 I know they aren’t real people, but they elicited a very real response. Yes, they talked about their age gap A LOT. Yes, Hayes’s character said “hiiiii” way too many times. No, the writing was not perfect, but their story was profound. This was far from the frivolous read I expected it to be and I 100% recommend reading this!

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

Pre Read: Most of my Goodreads besties have NOT enjoyed this 😬 Going in with low expectations and hoping for the best.