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A review by rebeisstrange
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
5.0
(*my overall rating is a 4.5)
okay, we all know how my reviews go. backstory time!
so, i bought this book literally yesterday morning (along with The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas) and i was actually very excited for it. i've wanted to read a Nina Lacour book for a very long time now and i thought that this one sounded interesting enough. the concept of ghosts that no one talked about was very cool. (and the cover is absolutely gorgeous).
now i'm just gonna start off with what i didn't like. there were very few things but they were there.
first, the...sexual? i guess you could say, part of it. i just didn't understand why they had to make Billy and Liz a thing or why they had to make Mila pleasure herself because of it. It was weird and awkward and i'm glad they didn't have a threesome (or worse, a relationship) together. it seemed like a one-time thing that was a sort of an afterthought to make Mila feel more ostracized in her new home.
second, i wish the book was just a tad longer. now, don't get me wrong, the pacing was perfect and i think that the book was better off short than long, but i wish Lacour wouldn't have ended the story so abruptly. i would've liked to have seen a little more of Mila and Lee and possibly what happened the day after Terry and Julia gave Mila the bracelet (another thing that i kind of didn't understand).
NOW. what i enjoyed.
starting off, i'm the biggest hoe for the found family trope so it's no surprise that i loved that aspect. Terry and Julia were such sweet yet hardworking people. i loved Lee and i loved Billy and Liz. i wish we would've seen a bit more of Emma and the other highschoolers, wish we would've seen a bit more of the preschoolers and a bit more of the twins, but i understand that it's hard to focus on 10+ characters at once so i'm not blaming Lacour for not including them more.
second, i just loved Mila as a whole. in some odd way, i related to her. her past was very mysterious and i like how Lacour only revealed it piece by piece. it keeps you sort of on the edge, trying to find out what happened to her. and this book really showed that just because it isn't physical, doesn't mean its not abuse. she was a very complex character that i grew to love immediately.
third, writing style. if i could choose one person on this big green earth to write my biography or write the thoughts in my head or write my stories or my poetry or literally anything that i write or think or say i would choose Nina Lacour. the writing style in this book was whimsical and beautiful and i would die to be able to write this well. like, if i could marry Nina's writing, if i could marry this book, i would. absolute ART.
the final thing I'm gonna talk about today are the ghosts. with the way they mention it in the description, you'd think that ghosts are a much more central part of the story, but they really aren't-- which was surprising. but i liked it. i really thought that the ghosts would be the dealbreakers for me, but i actually liked how they were barely there. it was a nice concept and i think it was cool that these ghosts were past versions of the kids. i still don't understand why they gave them bracelets/necklaces after they faced their ghosts, but that's alright.
any who, if this isn't a good review i don't know what is. this is one of my favorite reviews i've ever written so i hope you enjoyed it. PLEASE read this book, i read it in less than 10 hours.
-rebe
okay, we all know how my reviews go. backstory time!
so, i bought this book literally yesterday morning (along with The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas) and i was actually very excited for it. i've wanted to read a Nina Lacour book for a very long time now and i thought that this one sounded interesting enough. the concept of ghosts that no one talked about was very cool. (and the cover is absolutely gorgeous).
now i'm just gonna start off with what i didn't like. there were very few things but they were there.
first, the...sexual? i guess you could say, part of it. i just didn't understand why they had to make Billy and Liz a thing or why they had to make Mila pleasure herself because of it. It was weird and awkward and i'm glad they didn't have a threesome (or worse, a relationship) together. it seemed like a one-time thing that was a sort of an afterthought to make Mila feel more ostracized in her new home.
second, i wish the book was just a tad longer. now, don't get me wrong, the pacing was perfect and i think that the book was better off short than long, but i wish Lacour wouldn't have ended the story so abruptly. i would've liked to have seen a little more of Mila and Lee and possibly what happened the day after Terry and Julia gave Mila the bracelet (another thing that i kind of didn't understand).
NOW. what i enjoyed.
starting off, i'm the biggest hoe for the found family trope so it's no surprise that i loved that aspect. Terry and Julia were such sweet yet hardworking people. i loved Lee and i loved Billy and Liz. i wish we would've seen a bit more of Emma and the other highschoolers, wish we would've seen a bit more of the preschoolers and a bit more of the twins, but i understand that it's hard to focus on 10+ characters at once so i'm not blaming Lacour for not including them more.
second, i just loved Mila as a whole. in some odd way, i related to her. her past was very mysterious and i like how Lacour only revealed it piece by piece. it keeps you sort of on the edge, trying to find out what happened to her. and this book really showed that just because it isn't physical, doesn't mean its not abuse. she was a very complex character that i grew to love immediately.
third, writing style. if i could choose one person on this big green earth to write my biography or write the thoughts in my head or write my stories or my poetry or literally anything that i write or think or say i would choose Nina Lacour. the writing style in this book was whimsical and beautiful and i would die to be able to write this well. like, if i could marry Nina's writing, if i could marry this book, i would. absolute ART.
the final thing I'm gonna talk about today are the ghosts. with the way they mention it in the description, you'd think that ghosts are a much more central part of the story, but they really aren't-- which was surprising. but i liked it. i really thought that the ghosts would be the dealbreakers for me, but i actually liked how they were barely there. it was a nice concept and i think it was cool that these ghosts were past versions of the kids. i still don't understand why they gave them bracelets/necklaces after they faced their ghosts, but that's alright.
any who, if this isn't a good review i don't know what is. this is one of my favorite reviews i've ever written so i hope you enjoyed it. PLEASE read this book, i read it in less than 10 hours.
-rebe