You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by christyewen
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
4.0
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord is about Lucy Hansson. She is having the time of her life at her prom when she finds out her mum's cancer has returned. Her mum sends her to a camp for troubled youth to be a counsellor for the summer. She spends the summer making new friends, rediscovering her faith and discovering family secrets.
I own three of Emery Lord's books and hadn't read any of them until now. I had no idea what one to start with so I just picked one up at random when I didn't know what mood I was in reading-wise.
One chapter into this book and I was really enjoying it. It went off to a good start. But as I got further through I have to admit I got quite bored. I read a bit for a couple days then just sat down and read the rest in one day. So, even though I got bored for a while, I think that if I had just sat down and read this all in one go, I would have enjoyed that part a lot more.
The religious aspect of this book was one that intrigued me from the start. Before I read [b:Autoboygraphy], I had never read a book with religion as a major character trait before. Since I loved that aspect of Autoboyography, I was skeptical about it here. I also just want to state that I am not religious in any way so if you want an opinion that really matters, find an own voices review. I have to admit I found it quite overwhelming, since I'm not religious myself. I don't think it was done poorly but it was just a lot for me.
The writing was natural, it wasn't overly edited and I would definitely read more from the author.
So the characters. I didn't like Lucy's mum so whilst I sympathised with her situation, I didn't feel sorry for her as a person. I liked Anna, and I think her Anxiety and trans rep was done well. Anna and Lucy's friendship was realistic and cute. I also loved the friendship group as a whole. I loved Jones, he was so kind and his relationship with Lucy was really cute. Lucy was a realistic main character and you understood where she was coming from.
The ending was really emotional and heartbreaking. You really feel for Lucy and her situation. The ending also bumped the rating up from a three to a very close four. Probably more of a 3.75 to be awkward about it. I would recommend this book, it was really good and if I had read it in a different situation I really think the rating would've been higher. I just don't think that I can justify giving it more than what I have.
I own three of Emery Lord's books and hadn't read any of them until now. I had no idea what one to start with so I just picked one up at random when I didn't know what mood I was in reading-wise.
One chapter into this book and I was really enjoying it. It went off to a good start. But as I got further through I have to admit I got quite bored. I read a bit for a couple days then just sat down and read the rest in one day. So, even though I got bored for a while, I think that if I had just sat down and read this all in one go, I would have enjoyed that part a lot more.
The religious aspect of this book was one that intrigued me from the start. Before I read [b:Autoboygraphy], I had never read a book with religion as a major character trait before. Since I loved that aspect of Autoboyography, I was skeptical about it here. I also just want to state that I am not religious in any way so if you want an opinion that really matters, find an own voices review. I have to admit I found it quite overwhelming, since I'm not religious myself. I don't think it was done poorly but it was just a lot for me.
The writing was natural, it wasn't overly edited and I would definitely read more from the author.
So the characters. I didn't like Lucy's mum so whilst I sympathised with her situation, I didn't feel sorry for her as a person. I liked Anna, and I think her Anxiety and trans rep was done well. Anna and Lucy's friendship was realistic and cute. I also loved the friendship group as a whole. I loved Jones, he was so kind and his relationship with Lucy was really cute. Lucy was a realistic main character and you understood where she was coming from.
The ending was really emotional and heartbreaking. You really feel for Lucy and her situation. The ending also bumped the rating up from a three to a very close four. Probably more of a 3.75 to be awkward about it. I would recommend this book, it was really good and if I had read it in a different situation I really think the rating would've been higher. I just don't think that I can justify giving it more than what I have.