A review by aroseshaw
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

emotional fast-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

4.5

“The ones you love, don’t leave - they just come back different.”

“We broke the garden that sorrow built.”

Read if you like:

🎵 Poetry

😭 Emotional Reads

❤️‍🩹 Healing

🧚‍♀️ Fairytales

Whimsy is in the hospital being treated for clinical depression, not for the first time. While there, she meets a boy, Faerry who has wings that only she can see. Whimsy has magic too. After leaving the hospital she finds out that Faerry and his family have moved down the street. They start to realize that they see something familiar in each other, besides their magic. The mysterious forest nearby both scared and calls to them.  Once they venture inside they discover fairytales, monsters, and things they have both been running away from.

Who even am I, reading yet another book in verse? I have always been intimidated by poetry but I think I’ve discovered I need to listen to it. This book was phenomenal as audio. I don’t know what I was expecting but I didn’t expect it to hit me with all the feels. I was ugly and happy crying at the end. I was a mess. I don’t want to say too much because how the story comes together is beautiful. I will say that I enjoyed how Whimsy and Faerry’s story intertwined with other stories like Baba Yaga, Anansi, and Mama Wata. I did have to sit with this one for a bit and go back to a couple parts but I loved this story of healing. Highly recommend but please take care and check your content warnings if you need.