It Had to Be Her

by Anittha Thanabalan

When two schools merge in their final year of secondary school, Thrii, a sixteen-year-old girl with a tumultuous home life meets Daniel, a thoughtful seventeen-year-old who has a keen eye for photography and the world around him. The two quickly become friends, and then a little more as they share parts of their lives with each other, finding a connection that takes them both by surprise. However, the exciting possibilities of this new connection are overshadowed as Thrii's home life and inner world begin to unravel.

324 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2024

About the author

At twelve, Anittha wrote her first book, a masterpiece containing five chapters and written entirely in comic sans font. In 2018 her debut novel, The Lights That Find Us, was a finalist for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize. Anittha is an obsessed dog mum to a five-year-old poodle. She is currently working on her second book.

Reviews

[Wen-yi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

read in a day!! up there with the best of singaporean ya contemporary/romance - lively, funny, real, heartfelt and fluttery, with real hurt, tenderness and chemistry. plus a sapphic side character!! i need the mai/anastasia spinoff rn

[Priyashini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book stuck to its promise. But not really my kind of thing. It probably will be relatable to teenagers around the age group of the characters. A

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA romance was a serendipitous discovery on the library bookshelf one Sunday evening. It is refreshing to read a YA romance set locally in Singapore and even more surprising to discover that Singapore’s literature scene is expanding its foray into various genres!

As someone who has experienced the rigour of Singapore’s public education system, fond memories of my secondary school days were conjured as chapters pass 🥺 Ten Year Series and hours of supplementary classes aside, it is also the period where majority of us undergo the trials of teenage love.

Thanabalan captured the hot-and-cold cycle of intense early infatuation with remarkable accuracy. I devoured the text exchanges between Thrii and Daniel—a deeply familiar experience that I recognised all too well 😂

The novel’s pacing was comfortable but I wished that the later chapters could be woven together much better. Give this a go if you are nostalgic for your secondary school days and enjoy a heartwarming story about friendship.

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had to be her is a romantic YA story that chronicles 2 teens going through their o level year in school whilst coming to terms with their feelings for each other. The key storyline is centred around very different and complex family dynamics is the main theme and how that trickles down to the person’s everyday life and shouldering the trauma and responsibilities from that.

Overall a very easy read, a cute romantic story that (in my opinion) does not have the conventional ending I expected (which in my opinion is a great plus point). I thoroughly enjoyed it still and I hope that more people (especially kids in school) pick up these books and start reading with these easy reads that is also highly relatable to their everyday lives.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anittha fulfilled a much-needed gap in the market which lacks representation of young inter-racial couples in Singaporean literature with this book. She tackled the daunting topics of juggling O levels, friendships, teen pressures and relationships in an easy read that makes you quickly fond of (and at times exasperated with) the various characters. It’s easy to get attached to these characters and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

[Presana Speromaniam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave me little heartbeat skips while I read.

[Chai Li Chai Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️