If you have picked up one of Laura Nowlin’s books without realizing they are connected, or you have bought both and are staring at them, wondering which to open, this guide is for you. The reading order question comes up constantly on TikTok, Goodreads, and Reddit, and for good reason. Reading these books in the wrong order genuinely changes your experience of the story.
Here is the short answer, and then everything you need to know.
The answer: Read If He Had Been With Me first. Always. No exceptions.
The Reading Order Explained
Book 1: If He Had Been With Me (2013)
This is where the story begins. It follows Autumn Davis, a quirky, introverted aspiring writer who narrates four years of high school and the summer that follows. The central relationship is between Autumn and her childhood best friend Phineas “Finny” Smith, next-door neighbours whose friendship fractured in middle school and never quite healed, even as their feelings for each other quietly grew into something neither of them could name.
To understand why their relationship works the way it does, it helps to read the full Autumn and Finny friends-to-lovers timeline before starting the sequel. The entire novel is told from Autumn’s perspective. You experience everything through her eyes, including her blind spots, her misread signals, and her love for Finny that she barely allows herself to acknowledge until it is almost too late.
Book 2: If Only I Had Told Her (2024)
This book is structured in three parts across three perspectives: Finny’s, then Jack’s (Finny’s best friend), then Autumn’s again. It revisits the same events from the first book through Finny’s eyes, finally answering the question every reader of book one asks: Did Finny love Autumn the whole time? Then it continues the story beyond where If He Had Been With Me ends, including the aftermath of Autumn’s pregnancy and what her life looks like after Finny’s death.
It is simultaneously a companion novel and a sequel. It retells, and it continues. Both functions depend entirely on you already knowing the first book.
Why You Must Read Book 1 First
It Spoils Everything About Book One
If Only I Had Told Her opens with Finny already knowing he loves Autumn. It shows his perspective on events you experience from Autumn’s side in book one, including the ending. If you read book two first, every major revelation in book one is spoiled before you even begin it.
The tragedy of If He Had Been With Me works because you do not fully know what Finny is thinking. His death hits hardest when you have spent 300 pages inside Autumn’s head, not his. Reading his point of view first destroys that distance entirely.
The Emotional Impact of Book Two Depends on Book One
Finny’s chapters in If Only I Had Told Her are devastating precisely because you already love him from the first book. You already know how it ends. Reading his inner world while knowing his fate is the entire emotional experience the book is built around. Without Book One, Finny is just a character in a sad story. With it, he is someone you have already lost.
Jack’s Arc Makes No Sense Without Book One
Jack Murphy appears briefly in If He Had Been With Me as an obstacle, Finny’s popular friend who seems indifferent or even cold to Autumn. His entire arc in the sequel is a recontextualization of those moments. If you have not read book one, Jack’s journey has no foundation.
The Jamie and Sasha Situation Needs Context
Book two references the Jamie and Sasha betrayal as a key turning point in Autumn’s emotional collapse. If you have not read book one, you will not understand why this event is so devastating or how it connects to Autumn finding her way back to Finny.
What Each Book Does Best
| If He Had Been With Me | If Only I Had Told Her | |
|---|---|---|
| POV | Autumn only | Finny, Jack, then Autumn |
| Timeline | High school through graduation, summer | Overlapping and aftermath |
| Tone | Slow-burning, melancholy, coming-of-age | Grief, revelation, healing |
| Best for | New readers entering the story | Readers who need closure |
| Standalone | Yes, mostly | No, requires book one |
Can You Read If Only I Had Told Her as a Standalone?
Technically yes. It has enough context that you will not be completely lost. But you will be significantly underwhelmed. The revelations in Finny’s chapters land as dramatic ironies, not just plot points. You need to have lived in Autumn’s oblivious perspective for an entire novel to feel what it means to finally see inside Finny’s head.
Several readers on Goodreads have reported accidentally reading book two first and finding it “fine but nothing special,” then reading book one and realizing everything they had missed. Do not make this mistake.
If You Have Already Read If Only I Had Told Her First
First: it is okay. You still have a meaningful experience ahead of you, reading book one.
Go back and read If He Had Been With Me now. You will read it differently, watching Autumn miss signals you can now see clearly, noticing the moments Finny tries to reach her, understanding every loaded silence between them. Some readers prefer this order for re-reads because it turns the whole first book into a dramatic irony you can feel on every page.
But for a first experience, publication order is the only right answer.
Where to Buy Both Books
Both books are available individually in paperback and on Kindle. They are also sold as a boxed set called The If He Had Been With Me Collection, which includes both novels in a slipcase. If you are buying for the first time, the box set is an excellent value and makes a thoughtful gift.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reading Order
Is If Only I Had Told Her a sequel or a companion novel?
Both. It is a companion in that it retells events from book one through different perspectives, and a sequel in that it continues the story beyond book one’s ending, including what happens to Autumn after she discovers she is pregnant.
Do I need to read both books?
You do not have to, but If Only I Had Told Her provides essential closure, especially around Autumn’s life after Finny’s death. Most readers feel the story is incomplete without it.
Are the books the same length?
If He Had Been With Me is the longer of the two at around 340 pages. If Only I Had Told Her is slightly shorter at around 300 pages, but covers more emotional ground because of its three-perspective structure.
Will there be a third book?
Laura Nowlin has stated she does not plan to write a third book. She has said Autumn’s story is finished and that she has moved on from these characters.
Is there a movie adaptation?
As of now, no official movie adaptation has been confirmed. Given the book’s massive BookTok audience and over one million copies sold, adaptation discussions are likely ongoing, but nothing has been announced publicly.
