Reviews

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

velusica's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

linndt's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It was a sweet book about mental health and the ending was so sweet. It was written well and I liked the MC, but she was also a bit of a bitch. Overall the characters were sweet and the reveal was well done. 

danggeun's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

forgacsilana's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tiger_lily07's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I found this book to be very boring and slow in the first half but the second half was better. I found it really refreshing that Marin and Mabel stay just friends because so often in books they always end up back together. This felt more real and better that they can live each other in a different way and move on to other people, especially since Marin was in a place where what she really needed was family. The ending made me tear up for sure.

thepetitepunk's review against another edition

3.0

In a good portion of my reviews, I mention the cover of the book. I wish I could say I don't choose books by their covers but...I do. And the cover for We Are Okay is absolutely gorgeous, which is appropriate because Nina LaCour's writing is beautifully detailed—she writes in the kind of way where you can see and feel every word.

Although it's full of vibrant writing, We Are Okay is a quiet book. It's slow, with not much plot, but it will make you hurt in the same way Marin, alone in New York, is hurting. This is a book of love, of loss, of pain, of healing.

Because the plot was so slow, I actually don't have much to say about this book besides it was emotional with wonderful characters. I did find myself getting bored with the pacing though. The purpose of this book is to make you feel, but I really wanted more plot out of it. I kept reading since I loved the way Nina LaCour sewed together every sentence, but looking at the bigger picture, it wasn't that entertaining. Still, I thought it was beautiful, even though it was too slow for my taste.

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

Marin has move to New York and left her life in San Francisco behind. She didn't tell anyone in her old life what upset her. She just up and left, moving to college early. Her former best friend Mabel is clueless as to why Marin has left without a word. Present day is winter break in New York, where Marin is all alone in an empty dorm. Mabel is coming for a visit. With flashbacks to her time in high school, we learn about Marin & Mabel's friendship and Marin's relationship with her grandfather that raised her.

skyecharmel's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I found this book at random at a bookstore and immediately put it on hold at my library. As someone who has been living in a space of grief for a good part of my life, I feel like this book is a great, poignant example of that. Each of the main characters has something they're grieving, and the ways each character handled it was well done and relatable. Would recommend to anyone who finds themselves in a similar space, although I urge caution for anyone in depressive episodes.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

liv121's review against another edition

2.0

A good premise, but it just didn’t quite hit the way I’d hoped

lifeindelusion's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

‘I can imagine how it would look to live there, and I know the things I would do, but I can't feel it.

I can't say yes.’

change & healing doesn’t come smoothly nor easily, this isn’t a fairytale where a single meeting with a fairy or a prince is going to fix all problems

“she didn’t have any character development” 

.. yes she did. 

her days spent with mabel made her realize some things, her denial, her regret, her love, her loneliness,  & most of all her longing for someone to be by her side. mabel forced her back into reality, doused her in cold water when her body was as dry as a desert.

marin, is a very raw & real character, she is so human. she is learning how to move on and become her own person. she is tying up split ends, fixing relationships, working through her grief and finding how to be herself between other people. 

this is a story of grief, loss, love & acceptance.

she didn’t need any major character development, the changes she made, even if they started small will get bigger and eventually she will find herself a different person surrounded by things that she can be proud of. 

‘ And I have yet another chance, and I take it.

"Yes," I say. "Yes." ‘

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent