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valeriasshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Death, and Drug abuse
ramunepocky's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
“But that’s the way it goes. I lost nearly everything, and then I built something better.”
This book was somewhat a disappointment to me. We Are Okay is one of my absolute favourite books so I had high hopes that I’d love this one too, and I just didn’t. It was okay, but only okay. It wasn’t a particularly long book, and in spite of the fact that it spans over about 12 years, I feel like absolutely nothing happened. And despite the fact that there is essentially two protagonists, Sara and Emilie, I feel like the book isn’t split well between the two; it focuses so much on Emilie and so little on Sara, which is a shame, because I absolutely couldn’t stand Emilie, whereas I really felt for Sara and would have liked to read more about her. Emilie was just so damn annoying and I really hated her. I feel like she made a victim out of herself, even though she was the one that got herself into those situations. She distanced herself entirely from her family due to her sister’s issues with drugs, which I can understand wanting distance from that, but then she complained that there was a distance between her and her family, and between her and her sister. BRO, you created it. And then the fact that she actively got involved with a married man, who had kids. She knew that he was married, she knew that he had kids, and she had an affair with him anyway, a long standing one, and only broke up with him when it actively affected her. I was genuinely so disgusted with her for that, and I could no longer feel any sympathy or warmth towards her. I feel so much of the book focused on the affair too, and I just really didn’t want that. It was so vile. And it irritated me so much that Emilie once again acts like a victim and goes on about how no-one wants to stay, and everyone leaves her, like ofc he’s gonna leave in the middle of the night, hE’S MARRIED AND YOU KNOW THAT HES GOING HOME TO HIS WIFE AND KIDS GODDAMMIT. And again, it annoyed me so much that after Sara’s father died and she practically begged Emilie to come home with her, and Emilie said no, she then went on again about how everyone leaves her and that Sara wouldn’t come back like BRO, WHAT. She literally begged you to come with her. You do this to yourself, and then act like a victim and blame it on everyone else. It just winds me up so much.
The redeeming features for me were the chapters about Sara – I was a lot more invested in her life and the harrowing things she’d been through, and the connections she’d made and lost. She’d done whatever she could to survive, even though it meant severing all her ties to her hometown and her friends. I was glad that she got the opportunity to reunite with them ten years later and that they didn’t hold it against her. Her tumultuous relationship with her brother was interesting too since he was the one part of her family she’d tried to hold onto, but he didn’t want her to hold on as tight as she did, especially after they were older, and he understood more what was happening and wanted his own freedom to choose for himself. I often found myself desperately trying not to sob during Sara’s chapters because everything she went through and built for herself just really broke me. I really wish she had been the centre of the book instead of Emilie as maybe I would have loved it more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Death, Sexual harassment, and Drug abuse
veronicakirchner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.25
The most content warnings I’ve ever added for a single book. A deeply troubling, heavy novel with some glimmers of hope; these two women’s stories are interwoven tragically and beautifully. I am devastated and heart broken for the main characters and the pain/traumas they have suffered, yet find solace in the simple pleasure and peace they derive from their love for one another.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Pedophilia, Abandonment, and Child death
Minor: Homophobia and Blood
montsett's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Grief, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, and Death of parent
monig's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Spoilers ahead. I recommend reading trigger warnings. I had to take pauses in between.
This book had a lot of potential. It starts off incredibly heavy with all of the drug use, sexual assault, and deaths Sara, Grant, and Emilie face respectively. While I do feel we saw growth within Emilie’s character, I don’t feel the same about Sara at all. The closest we got to it was her crashing her late father’s truck in Eugene’s property, but that is still a quick fix for all she had to endure. I would have loved for the book to explore Sara overcoming her previous experiences and was frankly waiting for her to have an “Aha!” moment but it just never happened. Even when she began opening up to Emilie it felt watered down. It seemed pointless to dive into all of her trauma with no real resolution towards the end.
I also felt this book had a lot of loose ends. Colette, Grant, Spencer. The characters kind of vanished and while I understand they aren’t MC I still felt like it would’ve been nice to get some kind of closure that wasn’t so superficial like the run in between Emilie and Grant. Especially after finding out Spencer was dealing. But I guess that’s the way life actually is. That’s something I like about this book. It’s storyline, at times, was simple in the best way. There was not a huge climax imo but it made it more relatable. Overall I think it was a good read but it felt a bit rushed especially towards the end.
This book had a lot of potential. It starts off incredibly heavy with all of the drug use, sexual assault, and deaths Sara, Grant, and Emilie face respectively. While I do feel we saw growth within Emilie’s character, I don’t feel the same about Sara at all. The closest we got to it was her crashing her late father’s truck in Eugene’s property, but that is still a quick fix for all she had to endure. I would have loved for the book to explore Sara overcoming her previous experiences and was frankly waiting for her to have an “Aha!” moment but it just never happened. Even when she began opening up to Emilie it felt watered down. It seemed pointless to dive into all of her trauma with no real resolution towards the end.
I also felt this book had a lot of loose ends. Colette, Grant, Spencer. The characters kind of vanished and while I understand they aren’t MC I still felt like it would’ve been nice to get some kind of closure that wasn’t so superficial like the run in between Emilie and Grant. Especially after finding out Spencer was dealing. But I guess that’s the way life actually is. That’s something I like about this book. It’s storyline, at times, was simple in the best way. There was not a huge climax imo but it made it more relatable. Overall I think it was a good read but it felt a bit rushed especially towards the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Addiction
scarletellajones's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Addiction, and Chronic illness
mcampbell's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Authors 1st adult fiction. Thought it would be way better than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Addiction
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing
afrenette's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Drug use
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
mx_sunshine's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
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
3.0
I love the relaxing way Nina LaCour describes spaces. I love how the passions of the main characters were explored. Nina conveys her great appreciation of beauty through her writing. Buildings, drinks, and flowers are romantically described.
I appreciate the many different life events Nina covered. Death, grief, trauma, moving and heartache. I liked the pace of the book. I was surprised at how dark the content was in the beginning.
I feel like side characters weren’t fleshed out beyond their relationship to the main characters.
I would’ve liked to read more about how Emilie and Sarah supported each other. I feel like I understood their passions as a reader, but I would’ve liked the characters to express their admiration for each other.
I really enjoyed Emilie’s development over the book.
Emilie and Sarah spend more time apart in the novel than together. I feel like Sarah was
It would have been interesting to see how Emilie and Sarah discuss and reflect on their class differences. There was a lot of emphasis on Emilie’s immigrant grandparents. But she grew up in a home where she was financially supported. She spends years as an undergraduate in university and finishes with a degree that she doesn’t use.
Sarah mentions she read books that were on a university list.
I want to know how Spencer is doing. It feels like characters are given a happy ending through the establishment of a relationship.
I thought the way Collette’s retreat couldn’t be defined was strange. It felt like an easy way to rush character development.
Emilie’s and Sarah’s experiences with drugs was used as a similarity between them. But this history wasn’t expanded on in how they managed that in the present.
There seems to be a lot of unhealed trauma in this book that people aren’t seeking help for. This makes me wary to accept the “happy” ending.
I appreciate the many different life events Nina covered. Death, grief, trauma, moving and heartache. I liked the pace of the book. I was surprised at how dark the content was in the beginning.
I feel like side characters weren’t fleshed out beyond their relationship to the main characters.
I would’ve liked to read more about how Emilie and Sarah supported each other. I feel like I understood their passions as a reader, but I would’ve liked the characters to express their admiration for each other.
I really enjoyed Emilie’s development over the book.
Emilie and Sarah spend more time apart in the novel than together. I feel like Sarah was
It would have been interesting to see how Emilie and Sarah discuss and reflect on their class differences. There was a lot of emphasis on Emilie’s immigrant grandparents. But she grew up in a home where she was financially supported. She spends years as an undergraduate in university and finishes with a degree that she doesn’t use.
Sarah mentions she read books that were on a university list.
I want to know how Spencer is doing. It feels like characters are given a happy ending through the establishment of a relationship.
I thought the way Collette’s retreat couldn’t be defined was strange. It felt like an easy way to rush character development.
Emilie’s and Sarah’s experiences with drugs was used as a similarity between them. But this history wasn’t expanded on in how they managed that in the present.
There seems to be a lot of unhealed trauma in this book that people aren’t seeking help for. This makes me wary to accept the “happy” ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Sexual assault, Addiction, Death of parent, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Cursing
shannahtan's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
4.5
I personally loved this book. I was immediately drawn in and didn’t want to put it down. I read that Emilie’s family is based on Nina LaCour’s dad’s family, which is a fun tidbit. I heard this was LaCour’s first adult novel, and I thought it was wonderful. I loved We Are Not Okay as well. I could relate to Emilie’s wandering as she was trying out different majors and jobs. Her relationship with her family ebbs and flows. She is forgotten then loved them left. I think both Sara and Emilie are imperfect, and in some ways, that makes them more loveable. It’s a heart wrenching story with a silver lining at the end. Plus sapphic love.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Pedophilia
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Child death