A review by emilyisreading2024
No One Is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel

5.0

I should have known how much I would love this book based on the title alone; isn't it such an awesome, puzzling, and memorable title? The book is awesome, puzzling, and memorable too. As others have pointed out, there are some pretty disturbing things that happen and some things that may seem inexplicable (such as Lena's parents' decision), but I think they are included with a specific purpose in mind (with respect to Lena's parents, perhaps to show the "tribal" influence). My only minor complaint is that the story dragged a tiny bit in places. But let's put that minor issue aside because this is one of those books that can lead you to look at the world around you differently. Ausubel's writing is poetic. People say that a fair amount, and now I sort of regret saying it about some other authors because it's barely true in comparison to Ausubel. The imagery is lovely in places, haunting in others. The concepts are thought-provoking, the religious references described in ways that I want to memorize. And the ending - the ending had me in tears. I was reading it on the treadmill and literally crying. Now that I've finished the book, I've decided it's one that I want to read again - maybe not right away, but definitely sometime.