Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

I actually started this book before I left for Colorado but didn't take it with me because I did an entirely electronic reading list for the trip.  So, I came back, finished what I'd started on the trip, then got back to it.  It suffered a little from the week long pause of reading midway through, but I still enjoyed it enough to finish.

Been Here All Along is the story of neighbors Gideon and Kyle.  They've been life long friends.  Kyle is bi and has a girlfriend, Ruby.  Gideon has not wanted to mess with dating in high school.  His focus is on college.  However, he realizes in the beginning of this book that he is, in fact, interested in someone.  We hear from several points of view in this book:  Gideon, Kyle, Ruby and Gideon's older brother, Ezra.

I, as is fairly common for me, felt mixed about this book.  I generally liked the story and generally liked most of the characters.  I felt a little like Ezra's story didn't so much fit in with the rest of the story and was sort of filler.  I kept hoping that one thing I expected to happen was going to defy my expectations and just not going to, but it did.  That disappointed me some.  I don't want to say what that was, as it would be a spoiler.  Overall, Been Here All Along was a fun enough read.

Been Here All Along is a Swoon Reads book.  I hadn't come across one before, to the best of my knowledge.  The concept is that authors upload original YA novels.  Readers read and discuss what they like.  If a book is read and enjoyed enough, it gets published.  It's seems like an interesting path to being published, but also sort of explains how Been Here All Along read to me a bit like really good fanfic.  At any rate, it seems worth checking out.