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A review by cristina19
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
5.0
I just finished my reread of this book and it not only lived up to my memory of it, but I would even argue that it surpassed it.
This book is quiet. It’s deceptively peaceful with its empty dorm hallways and the stillness of freshly fallen snow. Marin with her yellow pottery bowls and barren bulletin board. The storm inside her has been muted and smothered, dorment under the surface just waiting to be ripped open. The use of alternating past and present perspectives is brilliantly crafted and woven together to keep an air of mystery about while still keeping the reader expectant on the eventual disaster.
The way Nina unpacks Marin’s grief is so fascinating and heart punching. Seeing the different levels of it and how it progresses or retreats over time is so complex and real. Marin’s fear of her own sanity, of ghosts and haunting, her obsession with Jane Eyre, and her own abrupt disappearance.
And the way that Mabel and her family fits into all of it as well. Your heart bleeds for the tragedy that is Marin and Mabel’s love. Their amazing friendship turning into something more, the beauty of young love and the connection between souls, eventually leading to distance, separation, and coldness. Trying to rekindle that connection but back into friends, sisters even. The way our love can change, and grow.
Gramp’s grief was so fascinating as well, the way it manifested and grew rotten. It’s impact on Marin and her sense of belonging and self worth. The way it seeped into their lives and impacted the way they existed around one another.
This book is just so goddamn beautiful, it touches your heart and reflects back onto your own struggles and fears. It makes you think and ponder on quiet contemplations similar to Marin.
This book is quiet. It’s deceptively peaceful with its empty dorm hallways and the stillness of freshly fallen snow. Marin with her yellow pottery bowls and barren bulletin board. The storm inside her has been muted and smothered, dorment under the surface just waiting to be ripped open. The use of alternating past and present perspectives is brilliantly crafted and woven together to keep an air of mystery about while still keeping the reader expectant on the eventual disaster.
The way Nina unpacks Marin’s grief is so fascinating and heart punching. Seeing the different levels of it and how it progresses or retreats over time is so complex and real. Marin’s fear of her own sanity, of ghosts and haunting, her obsession with Jane Eyre, and her own abrupt disappearance.
And the way that Mabel and her family fits into all of it as well. Your heart bleeds for the tragedy that is Marin and Mabel’s love. Their amazing friendship turning into something more, the beauty of young love and the connection between souls, eventually leading to distance, separation, and coldness. Trying to rekindle that connection but back into friends, sisters even. The way our love can change, and grow.
Gramp’s grief was so fascinating as well, the way it manifested and grew rotten. It’s impact on Marin and her sense of belonging and self worth. The way it seeped into their lives and impacted the way they existed around one another.
This book is just so goddamn beautiful, it touches your heart and reflects back onto your own struggles and fears. It makes you think and ponder on quiet contemplations similar to Marin.