TE Carter

From TE Carter, All We Could Have Been is a powerful and heartbreaking look at the assumptions we make about people and how one person’s actions can affect everyone around them. Five years ago, Lexie witnessed something that shattered her very core. To cope, she moves from town to town, desperate to hide the darkest of family secrets. In every location, she assumes a new name and flies under the radar as long as she can before anyone figures out who she is—who she’s related to. Lexie now lives with her aunt, has minimal interaction with her parents, and has no communication with her brother. But the pain is always there. After starting her newest school, all she wants is to just live life. But how can she when the past keeps threatening to drag her back?

All We Could Have Been

I think the story and perspective is quite unique. 

I liked seeing how the main character deals with the situation she's been put in and her conflicted feelings about her brother's actions. 

The writing was easy and the book itself was a quick read 

Lulu Evensen

I think the story and perspective is quite unique. 

I liked seeing how the main character deals with the situation she's been put in and her conflicted feelings about her brother's actions. 

The writing was easy and the book itself was a quick read 

Candyce Kirk

Lexi has been running for five years. Ever since she came home that day after school and watched her brother being taken away by the police. When people see her now, all they see is what her brother did. They say Lexi has the same thing inside of her and aren't very nice about it. Hoping to start over again, she moves in with her Aunt for senior year. No one knows who she is here and she wants to keep it that way!

It's clear that pretending is leaving a mark on Lexi. She has lots of anxiety, doesn't want to get too close to people, has to wear a certain color on a certain day and she's afraid to let slip who she really is. This author really wrote this so well. I felt all the emotions Lexi was going though! Her grief not only for what happened to her brother who was her best friend, but the question if she could've known it was going to happen?

All Lexi wants is to feel normal. She feels guilty for feeling that way though. Why should she live normally when the family her brother devestated is left picking up the pieces. Especially when people find out and start looking at you differently, blaming you, thinking you'll do the same thing. I thought the author described this well. In the world these days, people are so easy to judge. Your family member did something, so you automatically are the same. It's so unfair to Lexi, because they don't even want to see what she's going through.

It was nice seeing Lexi find her own normal. Being friends with Ryan and joining drama, even the beginning of a relationship with Marcus. While I would normally say that love doesn't really fit into a story like this, it's perfect in All We Could Have Been. Lexi needed to find someone that she truste, felt comfortable with, who didn't turn away when they found out the truth. Marcus doesn't have the most normal life either, so he was perfect. Lexi could start feeling normal and start to trust again.

I think my favorite part of this book was seeing Lexi grow. Starting to come to terms that she is allowed to live her life. She isn't responsible for what her brother did and shouldn't feel bad for wanting her own normal. Just because something awful happened, that doesn't define who she is. Lexi is her own person and gets to be happy.

I loved that the author built up to us finding out what Lexi's brother did. It shouldn't matter what he did, because it has nothing to do with her. All We Could Have been doesn't end with the typical happily ever after and that is a good thing. Stories like this aren't magically better in a few chapters. Not everything is perfect, so why should the ending be that way?

All We Could Have Been

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