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A review by anamars
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
this book made me have so many feelings from the start to finish. i could feel how eternally lost the main character, marin, was during the whole thing, even in the flashbacks. beware of MINOR SPOILERS.
i loved the way this was written so much, it helped you completely insert yourself in the story, in the mind of this character we didn't know much about other than her relationships and her pain, even at the end of the book. without major plot twists or extensive world or character building, we are inserted into a mind of a simple teenage girl, who just loves her grandpa, her best friend, and her family. mixing between this girl, and the more lost one right after losing her grandfather. this book shows you how delicate our minds are, so much so a sudden change in the perception we have can alter our entire person completely, and the way we see everything and everyone around us. the way that we know so little, about the people closest to us, about ourselves. what i'm trying to say is that this book gave me a huge existential crisis... it really makes you look inside the obvious, what do we *really* know about the people we love the most, about the life that we have, or as the book claims we "pretend" to have, to know, to live every day. it's 2 am when i'm writing this, so my thoughts are less organized than usual if that's possible. but the way this book is written was just so beautiful, and heart-wrenching. i truly don't know how i didn't properly cry, but i still felt *a lot* while reading this. even if you can't relate to the specific feelings about mourning and loneliness, i think everyone can somewhat relate to the words on the pages because they are so *real*. they come from a place of complete vulnerability and a true feeling of being lost. i think we've all felt lost, and this book puts that feeling and mindset into beautiful words.
another point is the relationships themselves. there is a truly amazing friendship between marin and her best friend mabel.
-----BIGGER SPOILERS AHEAD----
there is a lost love between these characters that i found so warming and beautiful, by the ending and even before they find that the most important thing for them is to have each other near, regardless of the nature of the relationship, which i find is very accurate and should be applied more. people lose important people all the time from not having the proper relationship from the start. i love how much they care about each other, how marin apologized and truly meant it, how mabel was always caring and there for her, and don't get me started on mabel's parents cus i Will cry. it was just so, again, beautiful how loving they were with marin.
and the relationship with marin and her grandpa, as i said before, really shows you and makes you realize how little you really know the people closest to you. however, this doesn't have to be completely negative, not even negative at all, i think it's just the nature of human relationships and that it really depends on various factors. their relationship was always loving and trusting, and while before the grandpa died a lot of things were uncovered, i still believe the most real thing was the bond he and marin had, that it was the purest love with the best they both could do at the time.
the healing that marin had to do is sadly a double work since she never properly healed from her mother's passing. but i know that she will be okay, that she now is accepting help, doing the best she can, and with this support and love around her, she will heal as she should.
love her and everyone in this book, and will treasure it forever.
i loved the way this was written so much, it helped you completely insert yourself in the story, in the mind of this character we didn't know much about other than her relationships and her pain, even at the end of the book. without major plot twists or extensive world or character building, we are inserted into a mind of a simple teenage girl, who just loves her grandpa, her best friend, and her family. mixing between this girl, and the more lost one right after losing her grandfather. this book shows you how delicate our minds are, so much so a sudden change in the perception we have can alter our entire person completely, and the way we see everything and everyone around us. the way that we know so little, about the people closest to us, about ourselves. what i'm trying to say is that this book gave me a huge existential crisis... it really makes you look inside the obvious, what do we *really* know about the people we love the most, about the life that we have, or as the book claims we "pretend" to have, to know, to live every day. it's 2 am when i'm writing this, so my thoughts are less organized than usual if that's possible. but the way this book is written was just so beautiful, and heart-wrenching. i truly don't know how i didn't properly cry, but i still felt *a lot* while reading this. even if you can't relate to the specific feelings about mourning and loneliness, i think everyone can somewhat relate to the words on the pages because they are so *real*. they come from a place of complete vulnerability and a true feeling of being lost. i think we've all felt lost, and this book puts that feeling and mindset into beautiful words.
another point is the relationships themselves. there is a truly amazing friendship between marin and her best friend mabel.
-----BIGGER SPOILERS AHEAD----
and the relationship with marin and her grandpa, as i said before, really shows you and makes you realize how little you really know the people closest to you. however, this doesn't have to be completely negative, not even negative at all, i think it's just the nature of human relationships and that it really depends on various factors. their relationship was always loving and trusting, and while before the grandpa died a lot of things were uncovered, i still believe the most real thing was the bond he and marin had, that it was the purest love with the best they both could do at the time.
the healing that marin had to do is sadly a double work since she never properly healed from her mother's passing. but i know that she will be okay, that she now is accepting help, doing the best she can, and with this support and love around her, she will heal as she should.
love her and everyone in this book, and will treasure it forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief