A review by akacya
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

4.0

2024 reads: 130/250

i received an advanced listening copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.

content warnings: cancer, death of parent (prior to story), medical content, suicide (prior to story)

with the return of her mom’s cancer comes the crumbling of constants in lucy hansson’s life: her boyfriend, her faith, and her longtime summer job at church camp. when lucy’s mom asks her to be a counselor at a summer camp for troubled kids. there, lucy finds loving and confident friends she strives to be more like, a stronger faith, and even some family secrets.

somehow, i had no idea this was about a christian girl when i went into this, so this aspect was a really nice surprise! as a christian, i love how lucy’s faith was depicted in the book. there are several instances of her praying and praising. her faith is also tested throughout the book, and i appreciated how she moved through this. lucy also grew a lot as a character, as she learns to be less judgmental and more confident as a camp counselor.

narration: the audiobook narrator, yinka ladeinde, had the perfect voice for this story! this really helped immerse me into lucy’s mind.