CW: Suicide

2.5 Stars ( )

Nina captured the confused, overwhelmed mind of a seventeen year old perfectly.

The ups and downs of friendship, relationships, first crushes, loss, and heartbreak are all themes woven into the bigger story of picking up after a loved one chooses suicide.

I ugly cried throughout the last 25% of the story, and connect with Caitlin and the words of Ingrid's journal on many levels. The author makes it so easy to get sucked into their emotions, and jump on the roller-coaster with Caitlin, while she tries to piece her life back together.

I adored the strong display of family units throughout the majority of the teenagers homes, while still presenting some with not so perfect home lives. Her ability to capture Caitlin's feelings towards Henry's 'bully behavior' at the beginning, and use her feelings towards him to show her growth towards the end while showing behind the curtain of his home life is brilliant. Plus the way photography moves the entire story forward, displaying themes and deeper meanings through out each chapter. It all builds this amazing, emotional, story that squeezed my heart.

So much respect for Nina's ability to shine light on suicide without making a cliché out of the plot idea. There are so many aspects of the story that breath the research that went into them. From the photography to tree houses to lesbian acceptance. It's all bonus content that really made me feel apart of the story instead of being an outside observer.

You'll love this book if you enjoy being emotionally pulverized, and want to get an inside glimpse at the life of teenager handling tough topics like suicide.

TW: Self Harm, Described Suicide, Bullying ( )

This book brought up important issues, and I want it to be read by those who will relate. I'm not sure who the intended audience was, though. This was boring. The characters were under-developed. I couldn't relate to anyone in the book, which disappointed me. Caitlin is interested in photography and I am not. Her teacher is a horrid woman. When Caitlin calls her out for not saying "Ingrid took these pictures. They are not mine but I am using them as examples," instead claiming them as her own work, the teacher says she'll -consider- saying in the future when work is not her own. Awful! And Caitlin started to get close to her again, wtf. Caitlin starts building a treehouse, and I wasn't interested in reading about that, either. The illustrations by Mia Nolting are fascinating in their technique and placement in the novel. Ingrid's supposed to be this talented photographer who can also draw a little, and they're line sketches done through a photographer's eyes, if that makes sense. They added more character and background to Ingrid, and by extension, other characters, than LaCour's writing did itself. ( )

This review feels complicated. Tangled. HEA=2 -drama, drama.
It feels real. It's whole and believable. And full - of grief, and life, and struggle; of changes, of sadness, of moving on.

FINAL VERDICT: Recommended read, Ownership optional ( )

This was so good. Nina LaCour's writing has not dissapointed me thus far, I'm excited to read more of her work!

I've read We Are Okay and this is similar to that but different too. In short words, it's about the aftermath of a girl who's best friend had committed suicide. I think I might put this as my favorite book by Nina for now, I liked how the journal entries gave us insights about how Caitlin's best friend, Ingrid thinks. There were a few parts that absolutely broke me. The teacher, Mrs Delani is a great addition to the plot and when she explained why she's been acting all cold to Caitlin and told her about the pictures Ingrid had been taking of Caitlin, my tears were streaming down my face before I knew it. The ending was so wonderful, I was really satisfied with it.

If you enjoyed We Are Okay, you're most likely going to like this too! ( )