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You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley

You Were There Too

by Colleen Oakley

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (44):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2020, 352 pages
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There are currently 44 reader reviews for You Were There Too
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Melissa R. (Green Bay, WI)

You Were There Too
Do you think your dreams have significance? Do you think that they can foretell the future or give you information about a past life? This is the mystery that Mia Graydon is trying to figure out.

The story takes place in the present. Mia and her husband, Harrison, recently moved to a small town in Pennsylvania from Philadelphia. She has had different dreams throughout the years with the same man in each one. She doesn't know who the man is, or if she ever met him in real life. Then, suddenly, there he is. She meets him and finds out that he has been having dreams with her in them. What does it mean? Havingmore
Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)

Marriage Dreams Versus Reality
Do dreams really come true? They do in this thoroughly modern love story. Newlywed Mia is obsessed with a man in her life and in her dreams, but that man isn't her husband Harrison. This contemporary marriage is on very thin ice, and there are several reasons why the past has impacted Mia's and Harrison's married bliss. Couples change after their vows, and their marriages need adjustments. From the very beginning of the story, I wanted Mia to forget her dreams and discover something more realistic and valuable for her life.
Lois B. (Eden, VT)

I Like Dreaming
You know when you have a dream and see someone so clearly; their face; their movements; their clothes; their voice. Then you wake up and realize you have never known that person or seen them but yet they were so real.
Well that's just a piece of what this story is about. But there is so much more. Marriage, loss, grieving, the thrill of first falling in love, the laughter you share, the jokes. The author brings all that to the table and makes you feel it and remember it.
Not my usual book read (at least not since I was in my twenties) but will look for more from this author in the future. Read it! You won'tmore
Virginia M. (San Antonio, TX)

Are Dreams a wish your heart makes?
This is essentially the story about the life of young married couple who live in a small town in Pennsylvania. Harrison Graydon is a Doctor. He loves his wife and, for the most part, life is good except for his emotional trauma over the death of one of his patients during a routine appendectomy. Mia, his wife, is also a happy with her life except she is hugely disappointed that her latest attempt to have a baby ended once more in a miscarriage. It probably does not help that her career as an artist is not going anywhere.

But there is more. The focus of the story at this point turns to analyzing dreams. She hasmore
Power Reviewer
Becky H. (Chicago, IL)

A different kind of love story
This was a different kind of love story. A happily married woman dreams about a man, not her husband, for years. Then she discovers he is a real person who has been dreaming about her! Love, desire, confusion, humor, guilt, forgiveness, and just plain weirdness ensues.
I liked it. Not the best book ever, but definitely an interesting take on human emotions. Well written, likeable characters who show real emotions, who grow and change in the development of the story. You will wonder while reading where this is all going and you will be surprised. Taken all together, this is a good read. I'm glad I read it.
Marjorie W. (Naples, FL)

You Were There too
A good read - kept my attention throughout. A love story with enough shifts to keep it from being just a love story. Felt some annoyance with Mia for dallying with Oliver - if only in her mind - but also felt sorrow for her as she dealt with her miscarriage.
Peggy C. (Wyckoff, NJ)

Hard to Put Down
You Were There Too is a fast-paced unpredictable read that I had trouble putting down. From the very beginning it is hard to know whether this book is a mystery, a love story, fantasy or a combination of all three. The characters are engaging and the plot intriguing. One constructive criticism is that I thought the occurrence of the "dream" relationship between Mia and Oliver could have been better explained by the end of the book.

However, overall this is an enjoyable book that presents many themes such as love, relationships and fate, all of which would make for good Book Club discussions.
SMD

A YA Book at Best
After reading some of the pre-publication reviews from respected sources I looked forward to reading this book. However after the first few chapters I kept thinking this has to get better ... which unfortunately it never did. Minus the fertility issues this could've been a YA story ... which is not a compliment. The narrative, such that it was, lacked breadth and depth and purpose, as did the characters which felt flat and one-dimensional. There wasn't anything about or between Mia and Harrison that suggested a relationship much less a marriage. Except dreaming about each other there wasn't any chemistry ormore

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