The Pre-Loved edit from Shopbop
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
Buy used:
$12.73
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Sunday, January 26 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or Prime members get FREE delivery Friday, January 24. Order within 6 hrs 23 mins.
Condition: Used: Good
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

When We Were Them Hardcover – November 16, 2021

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

From New York Times bestselling author Laura Taylor Namey comes a “lyrical and tender, authentic” (Kirkus Reviews) novel about friendship and the bittersweetness of growing up and growing apart.

When they were fifteen, Willa, Luz, and Britton’s friendship was everything.
When they were sixteen, they stood by each other no matter what.
When they were seventeen, they went through the worst.
And when they were eighteen, Willa ruined it all.

Now, it’s the week of graduation, and Willa is left with only a memory box filled with symbols of the friendship she destroyed: A book of pranks. Corsages from a nightmarish homecoming. A greasy pizza menu. Greeting cards with words that mean the world…

It’s enough to make Willa wonder how anything could tear her, Luz, and Britton apart. But as Willa revisits the moments when she and her friends leaned on each other, she can’t avoid the moments they leaned so hard their friendship began to crack.

As Willa tries to find a way back to Luz and Britton, she must confront the why of her betrayal, and answer a question she never saw coming: Who is she without them?
The%20Amazon%20Book%20Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Namey’s prose is lyrical and tender, authentic in its portrayal of late teen angst and growth.... An intimate portrait of friendship at the cusp of adulthood." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Beautifully poignant.... A bittersweet story that will touch many hearts, especially as readers remember that time when their friends were everything. Hand to those who love Nina LaCour." -- Booklist

"Female relationships take center stage in Namey’s narrative about growing up, growing together, and, sometimes, growing apart." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction including Reese’s Book Club pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak, When We Were Them, and With Love, Echo Park. A proud Cuban American, she can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children. Visit her at LauraTaylorNamey.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atheneum Books for Young Readers (November 16, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1534471278
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534471276
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL720L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.3 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 31 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Laura Taylor Namey
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, The Library of Lost Things, and When We Were Them. A proud Cuban-American, she can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.

This former teacher writes young adult novels featuring quirky teens learning to navigate life and love. She holds a BA in Elementary Education from the University of San Diego and is the winner of the Peggy Miller Award for excellence in young adult fiction.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
31 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2021
    I adore a story where the setting feels like a character and wow, did this book deliver! As a native Southern Californian, I could feel the Santa Ana winds blowing and taste the salty sea air of San Diego--the lyrical descriptions in this book were second-to-none. But, Laura Taylor Namey doesn't stop with setting, the characters in this book were so diverse, so unique, so real, I felt like they were real people and the tenderness in which Namey navigated the potential ending of a lifelong friendship between those who know you best, well, it really tugged at my heart. Loved this book!
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
    I was so excited to read Laura’s third novel, and all I can say is WOW. I truly loved this beautiful, layered story about friendship and love. The author did a wonderful job moving back and forth in time, and her characters were original, vibrant, and relatable. I read an early copy and can’t want to reread it—as a writer, there’s so much to learn from this heartfelt and immersive novel. I give it all the stars.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
    Laura's beautiful and descriptive language makes this coming of age story latch onto the hearts of the readers and it refuses to let go. Without giving too much away, Willa is living through the week before her high school graduation as she relives all the love and trauma that brought her to this pivotal moment in her life. I always love Laura Taylor Namey's work, and this time is no different!
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
    2.5 stars

    Namey paints a detailed portrait of friendship, trauma, and grief in this contemporary YA piece, and - as a lifelong Southern California resident - I appreciate that she effectively pays homage to San Diego: a great town with a very specific environment and demographic. For me, things took a wrong turn with the pacing and the plotting.

    Willa, the m.c., is presently experiencing the week leading up to her high school graduation, and while some of the novel takes place during this week, a good amount of it also occurs in past reflections. Through both past and present, readers learn about Willa's longtime close relationship with her two best friends: Luz and Britton. Readers also learn about the various traumas that these three experience both individually and collectively.

    The concept here is lovely, but this pacing did me in. It took me weeks to read this novel because I never felt connected to the characters. Readers get strung along - to some degree - waiting to find out what the big reveal from Willa is going to be (she is clear early on that the three were friends and then she somehow ruined it). While readers do learn that information, for me, it was too little too late. I never felt connected to the characters, never got gripped by the storyline, and never felt really engaged with the pacing until the very end, when, frankly, I was mostly speeding ahead to see if there was something more coming (there wasn't).

    One thing I dislike more than not really loving a book by an author I have at other times enjoyed is having to write the review explaining why this is the case. That noted, this one really just did not work for me at all. I'll be back for more from Namey, but I will hope for tighter plotting and more engagement in the next effort.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
    A lyrical portrait of a friendship at a pivotal moment of change. I don't want to say too much as the story is carefully structured to unfold in its own pace, with two timelines braiding together while three girls on the cusp of leaving high school confront their pasts, their presents, and their futures. The prose celebrates relationships to both people and places, and I felt the San Diego setting was almost like the fourth friend in the story. Readers should prepare for a coming-of-age portrait that encompasses both big and small moments--profound grief, exuberant joy, family trauma, cake, school dances, sparkly flip-flops--and a portrait that often shows us how small can become big and vice versa, pending the meaning we ascribe to the objects around us. The story is full of resonant metaphors that fit equally well in a grey box of tokens and in the heart of a reader. Though a secret betrayal creates suspense that turns pages, for me, the pulse of the story lay not in the suspense, but in the simple unfolding of the many moments that create a loving friendship, the kind that shapes a life, no matter where that life leads. Get your tissues ready. And dive in.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021
    (Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

    I was completely absorbed while reading When We Were Them. Full of flashbacks, Namey tell a story of reflection, of earthquakes forming below our feet, and wounds that may never heal. At the beginning while we don't know exactly what happened, Namey takes us on an emotional journey of all the straws breaking. All those moments you never bothered to write down but which end up being pebbles on a mountainside. And then when we find out what happened, I legit gasped aloud.

    When We Were Them is a gripping story which begins at the end, going back to the beginning to see if we can make amends. Throughout When We Were Them, we witness pieces coming together in slow motion which combine to form this examination of loss and friendship. All these layers of memories and betrayals, of moments we cannot forget before we even notice the cracks. Because while When We Were Them is a story about friendship which comes alive in striking color, it's also about self-discovery and forgiveness.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2022
    I just finished WHEN WE WERE THEM and I know this story will stay with me for a long, long time. It perfectly reflects how deep childhood friendships can both hold us up and hold us back. I know I can absolutely relate. This would be a perfect book for any teen on the cusp of starting a new life chapter. Laura Taylor Namey is a pro at getting to the heart of a character, and then digging even deeper. I can't wait to see what she writes next!