You can’t rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again.

It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded.

Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again.

Now, Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex–best friend. But pretending Layla doesn’t exist isn’t as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor. Despite budding new friendships with other classmates—and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom—Cleo’s turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both.

Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC of this emotional yet uplifting tale of a girl attempting to piece her world back together after a best friend break-up. This isn’t a topic that I see explored very often, and if it is, it isn’t ever in this kind of unrelenting detail. I think people are inclined to be incredibly understanding about romantic relationships falling apart, but the loss of a platonic love can be just as devastating. We meet a plethora of people as we grow, and some are destined to stay while others are put in our lives for a season; to help us in some way before moving on. These transitions are never easy but are, unfortunately, a fact of life.

We learn this and more from our protagonist Cleo, who we see in two timelines: one where she and Layla were still friends, and the present. I so enjoyed the slow reveal of what went wrong between the two friends through this storytelling device, and the gut punches waiting in each. We watch a relationship die but have hope woven into each downswing as Cleo starts to make new memories and new friends. When her favorite teacher pushes Layla back into her life, things get messy again and ends up begging the question– how much can you forgive? Ashley does an impeccable job of not placing blame too heavily on one side or the other; there is bad blood spilled that reminds us actions have consequences and all people are fallible in their own way. This is not only limited to the friendship but also Cleo’s mom and dad as they separate, the new boy Dom who seems interested in Cleo, and a new friend named Sydney who has the potential to hurt her just as much as Layla did.

This is a story of loss, but of rebirth and self-discovery too. A running theme through it all is change. We change, our loved ones change, and sometimes after this change people no longer fit. I think Ashley wants us to see that the shedding of our skin as we age is normal, and although you do eventually find people who will follow you to the end of the line, you have to let some connections go. I believe all of us have a long lost friend that we think about often and want to reach out to, memories that might bring us to tears, and new relationships that scare us to our core. When you make a bond like that, having it sever will leave a scar on your heart, but it’s okay to carry it with you. Deal with it however you need to, but know you’re never alone, and that there’s hope. Just never stop letting people in, and be yourself through it all. That’s what this book relayed to me.

5/5 stars