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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of We Can Never Leave by HE Edgmon to review! HE Edgmon is always good for a dark fantasy full of found family. Though, not always the most functional found family (especially in this case). This book is a twisty mystery that will keep you guessing at every turn.
I will say, this might be the oddest book Edgmon has written thus far. The timeline goes back and forth between the present and the future, and it's through this way that we get to know the main five characters. Though five characters is a lot of different POVs, I still think you get a good sense of each one as you move through the plot. They aren't always the most likeable, but they are very engaging.
However, some of the switching does get a bit confusing at times, taking down the story down a notch for me.
This is definitely a great read-a-like for the show Sweet Tooth on Netflix, with weird characters with powers. If you like the kind of story about misfits getting together to solve an unusual mystery, definitely pick this one up!
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Review to come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Violence, Trafficking
Minor: Domestic abuse, Murder, Gaslighting
One morning, five magical teenagers wake up to find everyone else in their Caravan community has disappeared. They need to team up to figure out what happened. As they work together, they uncover their own secrets, realizing the mystery of the missing Caravan is tied to their own hidden pasts.
Well I just wish I liked this more than I did. I really struggled to follow this story, which made it hard to connect with. I loved the idea of this story, and I thought the ending was really beautifully done. However, the multiple narrators, as well as the timeline hopping, was challenging because the different POVs didn't feel distinct enough to differentiate between. These magical teenagers all had different abilities and features, but it was hard to remember who was who, and I didn't know why they were constantly fighting. Big things would happen almost randomly, and I would have no idea why, but then the story would just move on. Some really good ideas in this book, but I do think it needed some editing/guidance for a bit more cohesion and clarity.
Well I just wish I liked this more than I did. I really struggled to follow this story, which made it hard to connect with. I loved the idea of this story, and I thought the ending was really beautifully done. However, the multiple narrators, as well as the timeline hopping, was challenging because the different POVs didn't feel distinct enough to differentiate between. These magical teenagers all had different abilities and features, but it was hard to remember who was who, and I didn't know why they were constantly fighting. Big things would happen almost randomly, and I would have no idea why, but then the story would just move on. Some really good ideas in this book, but I do think it needed some editing/guidance for a bit more cohesion and clarity.
This author called a young teen a tw*nk so we’re not going to tolerate this shit thanks
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When all the members of a traveling mysterious caravan disappear besides 5 of their teenage members a search begins to try to find out what happened but it soon becomes clear that something isn’t quite right and there’s danger afoot.
I really appreciated that this book was dealing with religious trauma in a very clear way since it is geared towards teens. It can be hard to understand the numerous ways that that trauma presents in our lives. I overall thought the structure of the story of flashing between the night of, the before, and the after was done well. I didn’t enjoy Felix’s chapters as the narrator would cut in and break the fourth wall which took me out of the story consistently.
I really appreciated that this book was dealing with religious trauma in a very clear way since it is geared towards teens. It can be hard to understand the numerous ways that that trauma presents in our lives. I overall thought the structure of the story of flashing between the night of, the before, and the after was done well. I didn’t enjoy Felix’s chapters as the narrator would cut in and break the fourth wall which took me out of the story consistently.
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This review is for the audio version, which was narrated by Vico Ortiz. Their recitation was outstanding. They brought life (ironically) to these characters. Each had their own unique voice and manner of speech that made it easy to follow who was who as I listened along. It was very well done.
5 teens wake up one morning to find that everyone in their tiny community that they refer to as "The Caravan", has vanished. With nothing left behind but the RVs and Vehicles, they set off looking for some sign of their families and friends. They are wary about asking for help though, as they're not entirely passing as human.
Each one of these teens, their families, and friends are some sort of fae or monster, with no memory of their lives before coming to live in the Caravan. Their identities aren't the only secrets they're trying to keep. Each of them has a past that isn't exactly clear to the others, and in some cases, themselves.
This was decent. Going in, after the initial disclaimer at the start of the book, I wasn't sure that I'd like it, but I was quickly drawn in by these characters and their stories.
All of these characters are damaged, living insulated lives, looked after by other damaged people, in a kind of cult (seriously there's some messed up stuff going on there), but they were characters that seemed easy to empathize with.
The pacing wavered a bit here and there, but the story overall didn't suffer much for it, at least for me.
Definitely check out the disclaimer at the beginning before committing to this book. If you think you can make it though, it's a good read.
5 teens wake up one morning to find that everyone in their tiny community that they refer to as "The Caravan", has vanished. With nothing left behind but the RVs and Vehicles, they set off looking for some sign of their families and friends. They are wary about asking for help though, as they're not entirely passing as human.
Each one of these teens, their families, and friends are some sort of fae or monster, with no memory of their lives before coming to live in the Caravan. Their identities aren't the only secrets they're trying to keep. Each of them has a past that isn't exactly clear to the others, and in some cases, themselves.
This was decent. Going in, after the initial disclaimer at the start of the book, I wasn't sure that I'd like it, but I was quickly drawn in by these characters and their stories.
All of these characters are damaged, living insulated lives, looked after by other damaged people, in a kind of cult (seriously there's some messed up stuff going on there), but they were characters that seemed easy to empathize with.
The pacing wavered a bit here and there, but the story overall didn't suffer much for it, at least for me.
Definitely check out the disclaimer at the beginning before committing to this book. If you think you can make it though, it's a good read.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
***Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***
I’m not really sure what to say about We Can Never Leave. This is a hard book to talk about without spoilers, but I’m going to try my best. This book was weird and intriguing and horrifying and beautiful. The structure of the story was unique. It bounced between many different POVs in the past and present, and I enjoyed trying to piece together all of the clues to the mysteries. I don’t recommend skimming this story because it definitely required a bit of concentration to keep up with everything.
I enjoyed the writing in We Can Never Leave. It was extremely poetic and relied heavily on metaphor. At times, the whole thing felt like a puzzle, the writing and characters and setting. The narrator was never super reliable, either, which added another layer of WTF to the narrative. The plot was intriguing, but it did drag a bit in the middle. The interpersonal conflicts between the characters became tiresome after a while, and so much of the story centered around them once the group was forced onto the road together. The beginning and end were super fascinating, though, and I did like where things ended up. Ultimately, the mystery of the disappearances, as well as the secrets of each character, were what drove me to finish the book.
Pretty much all of the characters in We Can Never Leave were unlikeable. They all had secrets and a tumultuous history with one another. Over the course of the story, their backgrounds and traumas were slowly revealed, and I appreciated the nuances of each character more and more as I got to know them better. They were all horribly broken by the adults in their lives, but I’d like to think that by the end of this story some parts were beginning to heal thanks to the connection built between them.
We Can Never Leave had so much great thematic content. I won’t dive into all of it here, but it is safe to say that there is plenty to sink your teeth into. The portrayal of what it is like to grow up in a cult/religious fundamentalism was so striking. The exploration of what it means to love and be loved was also something that stood out to me. I liked all of the queer representation, as well, and appreciated that the story illustrated that queerness exists even in spaces where there have been no words to describe it. Bird’s journey showed this brilliantly when they finally learned the language used to describe their internal experience of their gender.
All in all, We Can Never Leave was a great read. The mysteries kept me hooked even when the interpersonal drama became a little too much. I loved the way the author used the story structure to slowly drip out clues about the characters. It didn’t hurt that the writing was beautiful, too, with many layers to consider. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
One day, a group of kids wake up, and the group of people they were living with, called the Caravan, were gone. Now, these five misfits have to find out what happened and find their missing family.
This was not quite what I was expecting…I also don’t really know what I was expecting.
I was expecting I suppose some sort of adventure these kids go on, who also don’t get along, and become the best of friends 😆
It’s not like that. At all.
And I love that the author shoved a narration in here telling us that, and also speaking to me the reader about what’s going on, sort of, not really, but speaking me to me nonetheless.
It made for an interesting and unique read. The whole book seems to shroud around the mystery of this so-called Caravan and these people that were like those in the series Sweet Tooth(FANTASTIC SHOW by the way), who are not accepted by humans, but are by the Caravan. And yet, they seem to be hiding something, we don’t know what, and so the whole book I’m just tying to understand what is happening, and it’s like a very twisted ending, in that, it’s not what you expect. It’s a twist.
None of the characters are truly appealing, except for Felix and Eamon, until the end, and my whole perspective changes about certain people, like Hugo. It’s like the people I didn’t like had a redemption arc, and I love a good redemption arc. It’s well done. That being said, none of these kids were truly nice to each other, and I think it was simply tension because everyone seemed to like each other or knew something the others didn’t and took it out on everyone. So, a lot of drama, but I still enjoyed the end.
There’s a lot of back and forth with the timeline, probably to give hints as to what is happening or what happened, and also why it happened.
I felt bad for these kids because they were all pretty messed up and it wasn’t their fault. It was this weird community they were a part of that seemed to brainwash these kids into thinking everything’s fine when it’s not, or when something is odd or wrong. It’s a bit frustrating to read when as the reader I can something is wrong, but I can’t do anything about it.
This was definitely a different read from what I normally read and I enjoyed it, but that ending is what really made the whole book for me. Definitely worth the read just for the ending. 3.5-4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Wednesday Books for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was not quite what I was expecting…I also don’t really know what I was expecting.
I was expecting I suppose some sort of adventure these kids go on, who also don’t get along, and become the best of friends 😆
It’s not like that. At all.
And I love that the author shoved a narration in here telling us that, and also speaking to me the reader about what’s going on, sort of, not really, but speaking me to me nonetheless.
It made for an interesting and unique read. The whole book seems to shroud around the mystery of this so-called Caravan and these people that were like those in the series Sweet Tooth(FANTASTIC SHOW by the way), who are not accepted by humans, but are by the Caravan. And yet, they seem to be hiding something, we don’t know what, and so the whole book I’m just tying to understand what is happening, and it’s like a very twisted ending, in that, it’s not what you expect. It’s a twist.
None of the characters are truly appealing, except for Felix and Eamon, until the end, and my whole perspective changes about certain people, like Hugo. It’s like the people I didn’t like had a redemption arc, and I love a good redemption arc. It’s well done. That being said, none of these kids were truly nice to each other, and I think it was simply tension because everyone seemed to like each other or knew something the others didn’t and took it out on everyone. So, a lot of drama, but I still enjoyed the end.
There’s a lot of back and forth with the timeline, probably to give hints as to what is happening or what happened, and also why it happened.
I felt bad for these kids because they were all pretty messed up and it wasn’t their fault. It was this weird community they were a part of that seemed to brainwash these kids into thinking everything’s fine when it’s not, or when something is odd or wrong. It’s a bit frustrating to read when as the reader I can something is wrong, but I can’t do anything about it.
This was definitely a different read from what I normally read and I enjoyed it, but that ending is what really made the whole book for me. Definitely worth the read just for the ending. 3.5-4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Wednesday Books for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.