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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Personally, while it is advertised as a fantasy, I think We Can Never Leave leans far more into surrealism than it does any other genre. And while surrealism isn’t my favourite, this one did blow me out of the water in terms of the quality of the symbolism and the pure imagination involved in constructing its narrative. Working through themes of parental trauma, enmeshment, queer identity, conscience, and autonomy; We Can Never Leave brings all of these ideas to the forefront of its plot, but in a way that does not hand hold the reader and lead them into any obvious premeditated conclusions.
My favourite aspect of this book is how unlikable the characters are—something that is intentional, as the novel actually calls it out. The cold start sort of forces you into the lives of these monstrous/magical teens, none of whom seem to like each other, but all of which are stuck together. You are not asked to empathize with them, but you are made to learn about them on both an individual level, and as a group. The cold start and unlikeable characters act as both a hook and a means of engagement, drawing the reader further and further into the mystery until all the pieces come together. However, even near the very end I was still surprised by the conclusion.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was shocking, elaborate, weird, and at times incredibly gross, but it was never stagnant. I think this is one of those books that will mean more to me the longer I ruminate on it, and as such I wholly recommend it.
My favourite aspect of this book is how unlikable the characters are—something that is intentional, as the novel actually calls it out. The cold start sort of forces you into the lives of these monstrous/magical teens, none of whom seem to like each other, but all of which are stuck together. You are not asked to empathize with them, but you are made to learn about them on both an individual level, and as a group. The cold start and unlikeable characters act as both a hook and a means of engagement, drawing the reader further and further into the mystery until all the pieces come together. However, even near the very end I was still surprised by the conclusion.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was shocking, elaborate, weird, and at times incredibly gross, but it was never stagnant. I think this is one of those books that will mean more to me the longer I ruminate on it, and as such I wholly recommend it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love H. E. Edgmon's writing style and I think a lot their writing is beautiful and painful. This book was no exception; I thought the characters were well done and the angst leapt off the page. The reason this wasn't a 5-star read for me is because I thought there could have been more exposition. By the conclusion of the book, we never really understand the caravan's purpose or why they seem so sinister. There are a lot of implications, but not concrete answers. This wouldn't bother me if there was another book, but it seems like this is a stand-alone novel.
We Can Never Leave is really a story about religious trauma. Bird, one of the books main characters, leaves the caravan for 3 years to be human. But after she fails and returns "home" the caravan suddenly disappears during a New Moon ritual. Bird, and four other teens are the only ones left. From here, there is a lot of unpacking of preconceived notions and some sinister undertones that something isn't right. One of the main fights Bird has with other characters is why she left. There's a lot of discussion about how the Caravan seems to keep people ignorant and isn't it mysterious that they just seem to find magical people?
I liked the character dynamics and the end of this book almost made me cry. Felix, one of the left behind teens, reminds me so much of the child who just wants to fix everything. His story arc, along with his brother Hugh, is truly difficult to read, but in a good way. The brothers suffer some pretty significant psychological abuse, the kind that fuels rage and ends lives. Their story felt so real, just two kids trapped in a commune with no outlet to leave.
There was so much about this story that I liked, but it was a little too jumbled and I wanted more background plot. If you like semi-horror YA novels, you'd probably enjoy this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press - Wednesday books for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The themes and plot of this were exactly what I expected, and exactly what I wanted from this book. I was interested in the characters, and thought they were each unique and well developed.
However, I found the writing and the timeline very confusing. There are a lot of flashbacks, and a lot of POV characters. After about five chapters it started to get hard to keep track of what was happening and with what characters. A lot of the writing was very descriptive, bordering on flowery in places, and that made it even more difficult to figure out what was happening. I have enjoyed books that I found very confusing in the past, and there were definitely parts I enjoyed of this book, but it was too difficult to understand.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
However, I found the writing and the timeline very confusing. There are a lot of flashbacks, and a lot of POV characters. After about five chapters it started to get hard to keep track of what was happening and with what characters. A lot of the writing was very descriptive, bordering on flowery in places, and that made it even more difficult to figure out what was happening. I have enjoyed books that I found very confusing in the past, and there were definitely parts I enjoyed of this book, but it was too difficult to understand.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**
HE Edgmon presents their newest YA fantasy We Can Never Leave. Marketed as a contemporary fantasy at the intersection of Sweet Tooth and The Raven Boys, readers follow five teens who are residents of the Caravan. The Caravan is a safe haven to non humans, particularly those who wake with no memory of life before. When all the adults of the Caravan disappear and leave the five teenagers behind, it is up to them to find out what is happening and what has happened to them.
I was pre-approved for this title due to my enjoyment of Don't Let the Forest In. I kind of get the correlation? But I think it is a huge disservice to this book to market it as "contemporary fantasy" and not "fantasy horror". Sweet Tooth is fair for vibes, but The Raven Boys not so much. Perhaps the publisher was going for found family, but this is more forced family in the way of a zombie apocalypse book than in the feel-good way. These kids, quite frankly, don't even really like each other that much. Except when they love each other.
Every single person in this story is unlikeable. Every relationship, regardless of type of relationship, is at least a bit toxic. The pace is incredibly slow and circuitous, which makes sense given the nature of the story, but nevertheless does impact the experience. And at least half of your questions are not going to be answered. This novel lives firmly in uncanny valley and is told in five points of view with an intrusive narrator and a fractured timeline.
If all of those things sound like they will work for you, then rock on with this book. Unfortunately, those features, while executed perfectly fine, are simply not things I tend to like.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this early. I have enjoyed HE Edgmon's books in the past and look forward to their future works.
HE Edgmon presents their newest YA fantasy We Can Never Leave. Marketed as a contemporary fantasy at the intersection of Sweet Tooth and The Raven Boys, readers follow five teens who are residents of the Caravan. The Caravan is a safe haven to non humans, particularly those who wake with no memory of life before. When all the adults of the Caravan disappear and leave the five teenagers behind, it is up to them to find out what is happening and what has happened to them.
I was pre-approved for this title due to my enjoyment of Don't Let the Forest In. I kind of get the correlation? But I think it is a huge disservice to this book to market it as "contemporary fantasy" and not "fantasy horror". Sweet Tooth is fair for vibes, but The Raven Boys not so much. Perhaps the publisher was going for found family, but this is more forced family in the way of a zombie apocalypse book than in the feel-good way. These kids, quite frankly, don't even really like each other that much. Except when they love each other.
Every single person in this story is unlikeable. Every relationship, regardless of type of relationship, is at least a bit toxic. The pace is incredibly slow and circuitous, which makes sense given the nature of the story, but nevertheless does impact the experience. And at least half of your questions are not going to be answered. This novel lives firmly in uncanny valley and is told in five points of view with an intrusive narrator and a fractured timeline.
If all of those things sound like they will work for you, then rock on with this book. Unfortunately, those features, while executed perfectly fine, are simply not things I tend to like.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this early. I have enjoyed HE Edgmon's books in the past and look forward to their future works.
I am DNFing this at 20%, unfortunately.
I'm noticing a trend with Edgmon's characters across his novels, and it just doesn't vibe with me. The tendency for unnecessary cruelty between characters reaaaallly makes it tough for me to read.
In We Can Never Leave, the chapters switch between all of the teen characters within a close-knit community of social outcasts... and each and every single one of them is so incredibly horrible and mean to the others. Like, how am I supposed to believe that? If this is the social atmosphere within a safe community for alike people, why the heck is it SO HOSTILE? In their Ouroboros duology there was some great character development away from this same type of teen hostility, but it took a long time to get there and I don't have the willpower to do it again. The catty, knife-twisting one-liners are also a very jarring jump from the otherwise poetic and meandering internal monologues.
Hopefully there is some good character growth and my one star is not deserved, I just can't sit through more of this meanness.
Thank you Netgalley for approving my ARC request for an honest review.
I'm noticing a trend with Edgmon's characters across his novels, and it just doesn't vibe with me. The tendency for unnecessary cruelty between characters reaaaallly makes it tough for me to read.
In We Can Never Leave, the chapters switch between all of the teen characters within a close-knit community of social outcasts... and each and every single one of them is so incredibly horrible and mean to the others. Like, how am I supposed to believe that? If this is the social atmosphere within a safe community for alike people, why the heck is it SO HOSTILE? In their Ouroboros duology there was some great character development away from this same type of teen hostility, but it took a long time to get there and I don't have the willpower to do it again. The catty, knife-twisting one-liners are also a very jarring jump from the otherwise poetic and meandering internal monologues.
Hopefully there is some good character growth and my one star is not deserved, I just can't sit through more of this meanness.
Thank you Netgalley for approving my ARC request for an honest review.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm having a hard time deciding how to rate this. I'll leave it at a three for now. I don't do well with multiple POV books unless the plot flows well. Terry J Benton-Walker does multiple POVs well. This .. is a bit lackluster. And a bit confusing. I think there were 3 separate timelines; the past, the present, and the past of the day everyone went missing. With five POVs, it's really hard to tell sometimes, what's going on. The description is really beautiful in some parts, but really hard to parse in others. In some places it just feels like the author threw in flowery language just to sound smarter.
I'm also not fond of 4th wall breaks from the narrator too. I can read, and I have reading comprehension, but it's almost like the author either thought the readers were stupid and wouldn't be able to tell what was going on, or knew the book was so confusing with all the POVs that it was deemed necessary to add in those wall breaks.
In the end, the plot twist was... interesting. Hugo's plot twist I actually saw coming, because, as I said, I have reading comprehension (that irks me a little that the author felt the plot needed to be spelled out). I think maybe if I go back and read this again, it will make better sense.
There are clearly themes here that were lost in the thickness of the prose, and it's unclear as to the ending if the two characters were always that way (not spoiling but anyone who's read it will understand) or if that's just what became of them. It kind of felt like a "we're going to sacrifice ourselves, but actually we've been gone this whole time and you've been unaware of what happened to us" type of moment, and the whole group felt oddly cult like in a cannibalistic way, that sort of makes me feel like they were eaten, too. Like that where they were was a metaphor for limbo, and they chose not to stay behind and accept death. Like i said, if I go back and read it again someday, I may understand it better. But right now, I'm a bit confused and a little ticked off, but overall, it's not awful.
Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!!
I'm also not fond of 4th wall breaks from the narrator too. I can read, and I have reading comprehension, but it's almost like the author either thought the readers were stupid and wouldn't be able to tell what was going on, or knew the book was so confusing with all the POVs that it was deemed necessary to add in those wall breaks.
In the end, the plot twist was... interesting. Hugo's plot twist I actually saw coming, because, as I said, I have reading comprehension (that irks me a little that the author felt the plot needed to be spelled out). I think maybe if I go back and read this again, it will make better sense.
There are clearly themes here that were lost in the thickness of the prose, and it's unclear as to the ending if the two characters were always that way (not spoiling but anyone who's read it will understand) or if that's just what became of them. It kind of felt like a "we're going to sacrifice ourselves, but actually we've been gone this whole time and you've been unaware of what happened to us" type of moment, and the whole group felt oddly cult like in a cannibalistic way, that sort of makes me feel like they were eaten, too. Like that where they were was a metaphor for limbo, and they chose not to stay behind and accept death. Like i said, if I go back and read it again someday, I may understand it better. But right now, I'm a bit confused and a little ticked off, but overall, it's not awful.
Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
—
This is a different vibe for Edgmon! The story is told from five POVs and dual timelineswhich, combined with short chapters, creates a disorganized feel mirroring the fragile and deteriorating mental health of the MCs. Hallmarks of Edgmon’s writing can be found in the traumatized teens’ survival narratives undercut with fleeting moments of humor for levity.
Thecannibalistic, vaguely-pagan monster cult as an allegory for conservative religious upbringing is a bit loosely associated, but effectively reproduces the traumatizing elements. The brothers’ story specifically broke my heart: Siblings protecting each other with their lives, the best that they can and in the only way they know how—because no one understands parents’ emotional abuse like a sibling that experienced it alongside you. Edgmon captures the complicated duality of trauma bonded siblings: codependent and immovable loyalty, coupled with hatred because they remind you of the very trauma you’re trying to outrun. These characters are complex and selfish, and the relationships are messy and occasionally cruel. It’s a horror story without a HEA.
—
This is a different vibe for Edgmon! The story is told from five POVs and dual timelineswhich, combined with short chapters, creates a disorganized feel mirroring the fragile and deteriorating mental health of the MCs. Hallmarks of Edgmon’s writing can be found in the traumatized teens’ survival narratives undercut with fleeting moments of humor for levity.
The
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have spent all morning trying to gather motivation to keep reading but I just can’t. I love a multiple POV story but the chapters are all very short and it’s hard to follow along with everyone’s story, especially when you aren’t really given much to start off from. The “before” chapters are the most intriguing part so far but not enough to keep reading and it’s even harder to focus when it keeps randomly changing from third to second person perspective which, from what I hear from peeking at other reviews, only gets worse from here.
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with a gifted ebook copy of We Can Never Leave through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Bird belongs to the Caravan, which exists to take care of creatures that are part human, part animal. Bird was born into the Caravan, and has grown up in the community with their mother and grandparents. One morning following one of the community's moon festivals, five teenagers wake to find that everyone else is missing. Now Bird, Hugo, Felix, Eamon, and Cal must travel to the next Caravan community and try to find out why everyone has disappeared overnight. They all have their own secrets and along the way they start to discover dark secrets that have been kept by the very community that is supposed to protect them.
When I saw that We Can Never Leave was compared to Sweet Tooth, I was all-in, because it is one of my favorite series! The book definitely has a similar vibe to the series, introducing characters who have varying half human/half animal attributes. I really loved the mystery surrounding the emergence of half humans/half animals and the questions of how they can into being. I think I would have enjoyed the story even more, if the "sci-fi" aspect would have been explored and fleshed out more, instead of so much time spent on the characters relationships. I was really invested in the questions behind their existence and the secrets being kept by the cult-like members of the Caravan. I didn't mind the relationship aspects to the story, but it would have worked better for me, if equal or more of the story followed the sci-fi arc.
The writing was beautiful, and I loved the imagery that Edgmon created. There's a great sense of mystery as the five characters travel to find answers, and the varying POVs kept the story interesting. I also loved that Edgmon had some fourth wall breaks, that brought humor to the story, as well as insight into one of the characters. The book reads as young adult fiction, but there were some small moments of horror in the story, that really elevated the storytelling, for me.
We Can Never Leave is a captivating story of fantasy and science fiction, that follows complicated characters, dangerous secrets, messy family relationships, past traumas, and struggles with identity and seeking to find your place.
Bird belongs to the Caravan, which exists to take care of creatures that are part human, part animal. Bird was born into the Caravan, and has grown up in the community with their mother and grandparents. One morning following one of the community's moon festivals, five teenagers wake to find that everyone else is missing. Now Bird, Hugo, Felix, Eamon, and Cal must travel to the next Caravan community and try to find out why everyone has disappeared overnight. They all have their own secrets and along the way they start to discover dark secrets that have been kept by the very community that is supposed to protect them.
When I saw that We Can Never Leave was compared to Sweet Tooth, I was all-in, because it is one of my favorite series! The book definitely has a similar vibe to the series, introducing characters who have varying half human/half animal attributes. I really loved the mystery surrounding the emergence of half humans/half animals and the questions of how they can into being. I think I would have enjoyed the story even more, if the "sci-fi" aspect would have been explored and fleshed out more, instead of so much time spent on the characters relationships. I was really invested in the questions behind their existence and the secrets being kept by the cult-like members of the Caravan. I didn't mind the relationship aspects to the story, but it would have worked better for me, if equal or more of the story followed the sci-fi arc.
The writing was beautiful, and I loved the imagery that Edgmon created. There's a great sense of mystery as the five characters travel to find answers, and the varying POVs kept the story interesting. I also loved that Edgmon had some fourth wall breaks, that brought humor to the story, as well as insight into one of the characters. The book reads as young adult fiction, but there were some small moments of horror in the story, that really elevated the storytelling, for me.
We Can Never Leave is a captivating story of fantasy and science fiction, that follows complicated characters, dangerous secrets, messy family relationships, past traumas, and struggles with identity and seeking to find your place.