Wesleyan’s Becky Albertalli ’05 Fails to Deliver In “What If It’s Us”

“What If It’s Us” is a best-selling romance novel written in 2018 by Becky Albertalli ’05 and Adam Silvera. Albertalli is the author of “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda” and an alum (although, funnily enough, I didn’t figure this out until later). I read “Simon” and thought it was nice, and I had heard good things about Silvera, so I had high hopes for this book. 

Unfortunately, this book has many problems, resulting in an incredibly boring and unappealing romance, with barely any plot to hold it up.  

The romance centers around two boys, Ben and Arthur. Ben is temporarily living in New York City over the summer and ready for fun, while Arthur is a native New Yorker getting over an ex. After a meet-cute and some cyberstalking, we finally get our first date. Which they have at a… Dave and Buster’s. Of all places, why a Dave and Buster’s? I really don’t get the point of having them meet at the well-known arcade chain. They have a vibrant city within arm’s reach, with so many things to do and sights to see! They could explore many unique, fun, and even romantic parts of the boroughs instead of the generic Americana of the arcade. Ben constantly talks about the joy of experiencing the Big Apple, while the reader just feels left out. 

The first date doesn’t go well, so they plan a new “first date” as a do-over. They repeat this far too many times, with pages upon pages of wacky hijinks, such as the pedophile scene and “why are you white?” scene. What are those, you ask? Well, the pedophile scene is when Arthur, a minor, mistakes a random guy in a restaurant for real-life celebrity Ansel Elgort. He starts fanboying, and the random guy tries to buy the seventeen-year-old Ben a drink. The whole debacle was pointless, unfunny, and really creepy. Meanwhile, the “why are you white?” scene is better left unexplained. 

“What If It’s Us” has a writing style where the chapters alternate between perspectives of Ben and Arthur continuously, each boy written by a different author. Albertalli writes as Arthur, while Silvera writes as Ben. I don’t think it’s a horrible idea—if done well, you can get two protagonists that grow together. However, in practice, neither Ben nor Arthur are developed properly. It ultimately leads to both of them feeling like half of a character. They also each have their own side characters and minor subplots which are not given enough time to properly develop with the constantly swapping points of view. 

Another problem that affects this book is the constant pop culture references. I don’t mind if a character has pop culture interests, but it should at least relate to their personality a little bit. Here, it feels tacked on. References to Harry Potter, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, and especially “Hamilton” are continuously thrown around. There’s a whole plot thread about Ben trying and failing to get “Hamilton” tickets. I really like “Hamilton,” and I get why a Wesleyan graduate would include one of the University’s most famous alums in their book, but I really think it overpowers the tiny bit of unique personality that Ben has. “We’re called Hamilfans, actually” was about where I lost my patience with this book. 

There is a third act miscommunication regarding Arthur’s ex that results in a breakup and a lot of moping. They immediately get back together when a side character gets an entirely unrelated minor health scare. It felt like the authors didn’t know how to actually resolve the breakup, which left it feeling like an unnecessary artificial plot point.

The ending is depressing. Arthur has to leave at the end of the summer, so the two of them break up for real to go their separate ways. It feels flat, boring, and frustratingly like a sequel hook. And I will not be reading the sequel. 

And then we get to the epilogue. The last scene is funny, but only ironically. It takes place long after the events of the book, where Arthur is partying with another boy. I read this book around when I got admitted to the University, so imagine my surprise when the epilogue shows Ben in no other place than the University itself, having a “Butts party.” It also claims “Wesleyan has the cutest boys”… I’ll let you be the judge of that. 

In the end, “What If It’s Us” is a really disappointing book that is hard to sit through. Again, I don’t think Becky Albertalli is a bad writer; she has done good work in the past. I just believe that “What If It’s Us” is the worst book ever written by an alum. 

Atharv Dimri can be reached at adimri@wesleyan.edu.