Scan barcode
atmreads's review
5.0
I just… fuck- that was a hard book. I cried, no, I sobbed reading it. Part of that is definitely because of when I read it. It took me 2 days to finish the audiobook. I started it in the morning on my way to school, and that evening my family found out that some family members had died in a car accident. So yeah, this book hit really close to home with the whole pivotal moment being Lee’s brother dying in a car accident.
This is a story about grief and loss and pain and just being so fucked up because of all of it. It was so hard to read, I had to pause the audiobook and just sit multiple times.
I felt so deeply connected to Lee, I felt their pain. It was so… raw. I’ve never lost someone as close as a brother or a parent, but the pain they felt, the things he experienced. It resonated with me so much.
When Lee starts losing his friends and starts feeling like they will always be third wheeling, second best, I felt that pain. The pain that comes with losing people you thought cared about you, people you love and you assumed loved you back. Friendships falling apart because you just don’t see each other, friendships falling apart because shit hit the fan for you and they couldn’t handle it. It sucks, it really does, and even if it wasn’t necessarily about them being a “bad” person or you being a “bad” friend. It sucks, it /hurts/.
The anxiety it sent him into, where they were worried constantly about what V and Joel thought of him. The depression it sent Lee into where they couldn’t /do/. I felt that in the deepest parts of my soul. I remembered the younger me who was heavily depressed for those same reasons in middle school. Who had friends abandoning them left and right, who couldn’t handle those feelings but couldn’t tell anyone. The younger me who thought friendship was forever, until suddenly it wasn’t. That pain and loss and sorrow is so real and somehow so fresh? Even though it was years ago for me, reading about it in a book made it feel new again. It reopened those wounds, but not in a bad way. It allowed me to process it, and understand it more. I know we all joke about books being a coping mechanism, but this story truly helped me. It helped me get through the fresh trauma of loss without completely spiraling. It helped me to heal some of that trauma I never truly recovered from.
And the fact that Lee is non binary, it made me feel like me and my grief had a place in this story. It made it feel like this story was a safe space for me to explore my feelings. Lee is non-binary and he’s gay and they use two sets of pronouns. And they have to remind people that they aren’t a boy the same way I try to remind people that I’m not a girl. God, Mason Deaver truly writes the best non-binary characters. I don’t think my gender has ever been so perfectly represented until I read their books.
This book is challenging, sad, and painful. It’s intense and very triggering for many. But for me it was worth it, I came out of it with such a sense of, not happiness, but relief. Relief that joy can be found in those hard times and complicated feels. Relief that I can make it through those hard times and difficult feelings.
This book will forever hold a place in my heart, it will forever be a favorite, I will forever come back to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia
sisters26's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
a beautiful story on grief and the mesiness of it. I think this book portrayed it in a very heartbreaking yet realistic way. ❤️🩹
it also deals with mental health issues and navigating friendship as a teenager.
my first book with nonbinary rep, it helped me learn more about it and realised things about myself. ♡
it also deals with mental health issues and navigating friendship as a teenager.
my first book with nonbinary rep, it helped me learn more about it and realised things about myself. ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Self harm, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Toxic friendship
someonelikeblue's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Blood, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Transphobia
buttermellow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Child death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm
Minor: Transphobia
ocean's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, and Death
Minor: Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia
mayareadsxo's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship
aftgray's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Mason Deaver creates characters like no other author I have read, but especially within The Ghosts We Keep. Liam is bitter and angry and devastated and selfless and guilty and thoughtful all at once in a wonderful, painful, truthful way. They are flawed just like everyone else, but that does not take away from the goodness of their character and their heart.
Liam’s relationship with their parents is incredibly accurate for a lot of teenagers, and the way they respond to their grief and their tumultuous emotions is as well. Their relationships with their friends successfully represents a lot of friendships and consequent fall-outs — no one is quite in the right, but no one is quite in the wrong either. They all made bad choices, as does every character in this book.
This is not a love story. It’s not an amazingly happy ending, and it’s not some grand “everything will be okay” tale. Liam’s journey shows you that grief never leaves you, and that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to struggle. It is okay to not have a cinematic, wonderful happy ending. Most people don’t. But, as Liam finds, that does not make life less worthwhile.
I cannot rave about Mason Deaver’s writing style enough. They’re talented beyond belief.
Liam’s relationship with their parents is incredibly accurate for a lot of teenagers, and the way they respond to their grief and their tumultuous emotions is as well. Their relationships with their friends successfully represents a lot of friendships and consequent fall-outs — no one is quite in the right, but no one is quite in the wrong either. They all made bad choices, as does every character in this book.
This is not a love story. It’s not an amazingly happy ending, and it’s not some grand “everything will be okay” tale. Liam’s journey shows you that grief never leaves you, and that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to struggle. It is okay to not have a cinematic, wonderful happy ending. Most people don’t. But, as Liam finds, that does not make life less worthwhile.
I cannot rave about Mason Deaver’s writing style enough. They’re talented beyond belief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Transphobia
greenlivingaudioworm's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
maiahhtratchh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
This was an amazing story of grief and love. While the twist was pretty easy to pick up from context clues I think that it was delivered beautifully. I knew it would be sad but my gosh the last two chapters I bawled my eyes out. Genuinely think this was one of the best YA books I’ve read in a long time. I got hit really hard by the friendship dynamics and it caused anxiety for me (just how toxic they were) but I’m really glad that it was addressed in a realistic but hopeful manor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Toxic friendship, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Child death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Transphobia
catandherbooks'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
4.0
This book didn't go the way I expected it to but I think that's partly why it's such a good one. Incredibly poignant and meaningful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Minor: Self harm