Eh, it was kind of cute. While I liked Ezra and Gideon, the other characters where meh. I felt they could've been fleshed out a little more and I wouldn't mind knowing a little bit more about Ruby. Other than that, it was a light fluffy romance. ( )

There is such a thing as too much fluff.
Juvenile writing does not help the book either.
This is more like a lousy middle-grade than any sort of YA.
I don't think I will be picking up anything else by this author. ( )

I very much enjoyed this book. It was believable, and kept my interest enough to make me ignore other books I’ve started.
The plots of all books are always outlined in the “Publisher’s Notes” about the book and those are what attracted me to this book.I suspect that Publisher’s Notes on the dust-jackets or backs of books go a long way in attracting any reader to a given book, so there is no reason to recapitulate the plot here. I prefer to comment on things other than just what a great story this is.
First of all, I want to say I have read a lot of YA books over the last few months and most strike me as being at a reading level that would let a lot of teenagers out-sounding more like an adult novel than a YA one.. This book does not do that. It is the first I’ve read in some time that I felt was actually written at the readability level of an early to mid-teen.
Second, and this is really big for me, this is the first YA book I can recall ever reading where the language, voice, observations and remarks of the protagonists feel like those that would actually come from teenagers.
Almost everything I’ve read lately had teenagers thinking or saying things that are at levels of wisdom, psychological insight or advanced maturity that teenagers just don’t have.
I respect teenager and preteens, too. I believe adults significantly underestimate how bright and capable they are as evidenced by school curricula that are years below where they should be.
But wisdom, philosophic and psychological insight, or keen observation of human nature and motivations are not areas of strength for younger people and not for a lot of adults, either. These are skill that are the product of age, experience and a lot of personal reflection and insights that no one, no one, can have until they’ve put enough life experience under their belt.
Been Here All Along never digresses into that area of mature perception that would make the credibility of its entire plot questionable. It is truly a YA book, readable by teenagers and interesting to teen and adult readers alike. ( )

Another quick read! I finished this book while still home for Christmas vacation before I went back to West Virginia. The story was very cute and I love that Gideon has for Lord of the Rings, I wish I had someone like that who would even be willing to watch the movies with me. Sandy Hall does such a great job with keeping the POVs distinctive and not repetitive. I love her narrations and how cute her stories are in general.

The few issues I had was how predictable the story became after the first couple of chapters and that is not bad necessarily but I personally am not a fan of stories like that. Also, the length of the book does not allow the relationship to be all of that complex. I wish the issue between them could have been longer and gone more in depth with how it was solved.

I would push younger readers towards this book like preteens, I think they would enjoy the book more than those of us who are older and are looking for a little bit more. ( )

as a human person who has been in a relationship with a former best friend, i am borderline offended.

okay, so, let's reel it back a bit. why do we like best friends to lovers stories? i can think of at least three reasons right off the top of my head: 1. the stakes are extremely high, higher the longer the pair have been friends. 2. the first point makes for a really slow build up, because there's a lot of shit to be considered, which usually makes good storytelling. 3. the characters being friends makes for a really deep understanding and acceptance of each other, which makes the relationship feel substancious and sumptuous and overall believable.

and the big issue is that none of those things ring true with this book. there is, i guess, a plot, yet there's not really any conflict that drives the whole book and strings it together. because a bunch of things could have been the main issue of the story- maybe it's the fact that while kyle is bi and out, gideon is barely starting to realize he's gay. maybe it's the fact that kyle has a whole ass girlfriend he's having an awesome time with. maybe its the fact that they're best friends and they're literally risking the best thing theyve had for the majority of their lives.

but guess what!! apparently none of that poses a problem, because every one of those things gets solved in a matter of three sentences to six pages. gideon's gay panic lasts about two days, ruby, the girlfriend, gets dumped immediately, coming out is an absolute breeze for gideon, and they dont even have so much of a conversation about "is it the best thing for us to do to risk all that we have?" before becoming a couple. which is. frustrating to say the least. and im not saying every gay falling in love should have as hard of a time coming to terms with it as i did, but im pretty sure there should be, at the very least, some thought about. just some "hey should we maybe take it a lil slow? should we maybe consider what happens if we decide this doesn't work out"? or SOMETHING.

the way this would have been forgivable: if they had had a big thing where they were like "i literally cannot stand the sight of you because im physically unable to stop myself from kissing your every freckle because i am in love with you in all these many many ways and this is so absolutely all consuming i am a wreck of a person so please please please just give us a chance", and it had been mutual, and the reader was actually able to tell why they liked each other so much. which we... do not? because all we have to show for this whole love is a 10 item list gideon makes that says shit like "kyle's tall" and "everybody likes him" and "hes still my friend even though hes in a relationship" and "he doesnt talk about his car constantly". which is honestly, like... the bare minumum. absolutely no substance!

so, the root of the story is simply flawed. kyle is more likeable than gideon, although i didnt hate him either. but the characters around them are as inconsistent as... everything else, really. especially ruby, who literally changes values and morals and behavior and thoughts patterns depending on whether or not she's a useful threat to kyle and gideon, and starts out as a self centered lil bitch, then gets normal-ish, then goes absolutely insane, and then becomes the best person you've ever seen. and she still remains unlikeable all throughout.

most of the other characters are flat fillers, particularly all of kyle's gideon's and ruby's friends. the only other one aside from their parents is ezra, gideon's older brother, who's actually a good brother but questionable as a person- namely, the whole "flirting with his little brother's best friend's actual current girlfriend" thing, but also the whole "spent time being a surfer after college with my bar mitzvah money and then came home to my parents when i ran out of money but dont even think about going to college or getting a job until the book is right about to end" thing. and thats... thats it. that's all he is as a character. and aside from listening to gideon whine and hiding a binder at one point, he has no other contributions to the plot, so why on god's green earth is he a narrator with his own chapters? i couldn't tell you.

so. im disappointed. of course there are a couple of redeeming points, like, say, it's readable. its light and relatively quick paced, it's really short to the degree i read it in one sitting right before going to sleep, and didnt have to force myself to finish it. ezra calls gideon "giddyup", which i cant tell whether i ironically or unironically find really cute. it's light and overall happy and i get that not every story has to be super deep and complex and make you want to curl up and sob into your sleeve because you're so concerned things are not going to work out. but both the trop, the synopsis and even the cover promised something they did not deliver, and i will hold it over their head for the rest of forever. ( )