If You Still Recognise Me

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Its a very simple story, about love to other people as much as live to your family, about understanding emotions and unraveling yourself from the mist of past.

The characters also felt quite young, like I kept thinking they were 15 or 16 when in fact they're meant to be 18 or 19 and heading off to university. I read this in one sitting and was absolutely enthralled, this has got to be the standout YA debut of the year. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.It was a book about relationships – romance is what is highlighted on the synopsis but you soon discover it is about far more; about generational trauma, uncovering family history, coming to terms with abuse and so many other key themes. I loved the blend, and appreciated that it wasn’t just a smooth ride — because that’s not life, usually. This is definitely a novel that makes people who feel unseen and unheard, feel seen and heard without even asking. The book touches on many important topics, including sexuality, racism, homophobia, controlling relationships and loneliness.

This books features such a big queer cast and I honestly learned to love every single one of these characters. I truly think that this is going to be my absolute favorite read of 2022 + my favorite sapphic read this year. Touching on so much about the characters’ identities, this book also had some great rep; from bisexuality, asexuality, as well as Elsie’s dual nationality, there were so many avenues to be explored, and I can only imagine how brilliant this book would feel in the hands of a reader who feels like they see themselves in the characters and on the pages of this book.

It's a true ode to fandom which was so fun to read about; I'm not I've ever read a book where fandom culture is so accurately and beautifully portrayed! It wasn’t for me because I’m past that intense phase of living for a fandom and dedicating that much time to it, but that’s just me. A lyrical contemporary story about falling in love and finding yourself in the process, for fans of The Black Flamingo, The Falling in Love Montage and Alice Oseman. It felt like a love letter to all of us readers who grew up immersed in those spaces, it almost me nostalgic for a time where waiting for the newest update was my primary issue.

There are family secrets and I just loved seeing every single interaction with Elsie and every member of her family. We get to see this explored through memories, food, language, clothes, the ways we may seek approval and who we seek it from. In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn't nearly as alone as she thought.If You Still Recognise Me is a poignant, perfectly formed debut about queer love, fandom and family. Not only does Cynthia So show the importance of fandom spaces and give online friendships the importance they deserve, but they also use it to highlight the disparity of queer and POC rep in media, and the effect this not only has on teens themselves, but how it can negatively impact those around them. There’s this whole fandom thing that pulls you out of the story, the excessive amount of description of the “Eden Recoiling” world and fan made things about it. Not every issue was resolved by the end of the book, but having an open ending for those issues worked really well.