Colleen Oakley | YOU WERE THERE TOO

Plot (via Goodreads):

Mia Graydon's life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too — unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of them, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he's been dreaming of her too.

Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?

Review:

So, again Berkley got me into reading a novel completely out of my comfort zone and again, I loved it. You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley was an emotional tour de force that had a little hint of mystery and a dash of the supernatural to it. This novel was a really well-written story of love, loss, and featured some really fantastic characters that had relationships that felt so real. Whether it was friendship, relationships, marriages, or family - every single relationship in this book was written splendidly and kept me so immersed in this story.

There were some moments when I was laughing out loud, some moments where I was tearing up, and some moments where I had a chill run up my spine. This is by no means a thriller, mystery, or suspense, but the specifics of the plot definitely had me invested and at times felt really chilling. Oakley's writing combined with these characters, the setting, and this intricate plot all definitely complimented one another and made this a really enjoyable experience. My emotions were all over the place with this story and there was one aspect that initially I wasn't too keen on reading as I felt that it was overdone within this genre, but Colleen Oakley made me eat my own words by the end of the novel and I felt that everything was wrapped up exquisitely. There were some moments where we got chapters featuring different secondary character perspectives and I felt that it was a great addition to the story-line.

Between the epic prologue and the entire story and the ending, I loved how this story felt free of clicehs, the characters were enjoyable to read about and I loved all of the directions this story went in. Oakley did a great job of gaining my attention very quickly and keeping me invested in a story that isn't the typical genre I read and I can honestly say, I am looking forward to reading more by her and would love if she dipped her toes into the thriller/suspense genre.

Special thanks to Berkley for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5