when you were everything ashley woodfolk

Along the way, Cleo learns more about her parents, how to navigate new friendships, and how to move on from old ones. It’s heartbreaking and suspenseful at turns, as you gradually learn what caused the two BFFs to fall apart and walk away from each other. When You Were Everything switches between past and present, creating a vivid portrait of Cleo and Layla’s friendship and break-up. Having experienced my own friend break-up a few years ago, I knew this book would, as we used to say in the 2010s, hit me right in the feels.

She wants to move on, but sometimes, friend break-ups are the hardest ones to move on from. The book follows Cleo as she copes with the aftermath of a devastating friend break-up with her BFF Layla. Review: I thought I had prepared myself emotionally for Ashley Woodfolk’s latest book, When You Were Everything. Alternating between time lines of Then and Now, When You Were Everything blends past and present into an emotional story about the beauty of self-forgiveness, the promise of new beginnings, and the courage it takes to remain open to love. Despite budding new friendships with other classmates-and a raging crush on a gorgeous boy named Dom-Cleo’s turbulent past with Layla comes back to haunt them both. But pretending Layla doesn’t exist isn’t as easy as Cleo hoped, especially after she’s assigned to be Layla’s tutor.

Now, Cleo wants to erase every memory, good or bad, that tethers her to her ex–best friend. Nearly a month since Cleo realized they’ll never be besties again.

It’s been twenty-seven days since Cleo and Layla’s friendship imploded. Summary: You can’t rewrite the past, but you can always choose to start again.

When you were everything ashley woodfolk