paisleypatternedpages 's review for:

We Can Never Leave by H.E. Edgmon

3.0

tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I really liked the concept of this book. The plot felt original, and I especially liked the ending, but the writing fell a little flat for me, for two main reasons: the character dynamics and the secret keeping.

I’ll start with the latter, first. Personally, in my own humble personal opinion (☝️) I don’t like when characters withhold information from the reader in order to create more shock factor later on. There was so much that these characters knew that wasn’t explained to the reader until the very end. Which, sure, creates some sort of shocking reveal, but up until that point we’ve had so much kept from us that we don’t know the characters. And when we don’t know the characters, we can’t connect and root for them. Because so much is kept from the reader, the result is a vague story, where everything is important but nothing is explained. With characters that hate each other for reasons only they know. Let us in on the secrets!! I promise we’ll keep them!

Speaking of character dynamics, most of the book is a repeated showcase of the animosity between the characters. They all hate each other for various vague and secret reasons, except, they all might secretly be in love with each other, actually? There are five POVs that all have the same general vibe, except for one, where the narrator breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the reader. Again, a cool concept, but it fell a bit flat, because the narrator was ALSO keeping secrets from the reader.

However! There’s one tidbit of information in this book that isn’t kept a secret, and it’s the most shocking, horrifying detail that honestly saves the story. And it didn’t need to be a secret for it to have the intended shock value. It is also a major player in the ending of the story, and the connection and the tie-in was fantastic 😗👌

To wrap up this insanely long review, if you want good LGBTQ+ teen representation and don’t mind being in the dark (hey, to each their own!), check this one out!