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Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.) HTML:Winner of the 2018 Michael L. Printz Award — An achingly beautiful novel about grief and the enduring power of friendship. “Short, poetic and gorgeously written.” —The New York Times Book Review “A beautiful, devastating piece of art." —Bookpage You go through life thinking there’s so much you need. . . . Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother. Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. Now, months later, alone in an emptied dorm for winter break, Marin waits. Mabel is coming to visit and Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid and finally confront the loneliness that has made a home in her heart. An intimate whisper that packs an indelible punch, We Are Okay is Nina LaCour at her finest. This gorgeously crafted and achingly honest portrayal of grief will leave you urgent to reach across any distance to reconnect with the people you love. Praise for We Are Okay “Nina LaCour treats her emotions so beautifully and with such empathy.” —Bustle ? “Exquisite.” —Kirkus ? “LaCour paints a captivating depiction of loss, bewilderment, and emotional paralysis . . . raw and beautiful.” —Booklist ? “Beautifully crafted . . . . A quietly moving, potent novel.” —SLJ ? “A moving portrait of a girl struggling to rebound after everything she’s known has been thrown into disarray.” —Publishers Weekly ?"Bittersweet and hopeful . . . poetic and skillfully crafted." —Shelf Awareness “So lonely and beautiful that I could hardly breathe. This is a perfect book.” —Stephanie Perkins, bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss “As beautiful as the best memories, as sad as the best songs, as hopeful as your best dreams.” —Siobhan Vivian, bestselling author of The Last Boy and Girl in the World “You can feel every peak and valley of Marin’s emotional journey on your skin, in your gut. Beautifully written, heartfelt, and deeply real.” —Adi Alsaid, author of Never Always Sometimes and Let’s Get Lost.… (more)
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Marin doesn't remember her mother. She lives with her grandfather but their lives are separate for the most part. After his death, she's all alone and has no one. Everything she thought she knew was a lie. She put distance between
I wanted to like it. I did love the writing style which is why I gave it a 2. It just didn't work for me. I was waiting for a huge explosion that never came and I actually was a little bored. I was glad it was a quick read.
But one summer day after high school graduation, Gramps doesn’t answer when Marin comes home. Busy with summer fun and new girlfriend, Mabel, Marin has pretty much ignored Gramps, minimizing his failing health. Fearing the worst, Marin enters her grandfather’s bedroom, which actually consists of a sitting room and adjoining room and discovers something she never thought existed and which changed her opinion of Gramps forever.
The police are called and a shaken Marin is taken to the police station but rather than go home with Mabel’s parents (who are almost like a second set of parents) she slips out the back door and boards a bus from California to upstate New York and college with nothing but the shirt on her back, her cell phone and her debit card, even though school doesn’t start for two weeks. She ignores Mabel’s frantic texts for weeks before they dwindle into non-existence.
However, Mabel hasn’t given up and visits Marin at school for three days over Christmas break, which is where the story unfolds.
Through the action of the present and flashbacks to the previous summer, readers understand the torture that these two young women underwent, the loss of a grandparent, the loss of a friend. But it also reinforces the concept of family which is not just biological commonality. Mabel and Marin are endearing characters. You like them immediately. Their pain is understandable. The awkwardness of their reunion is palpable.
We Are Okay is both happy and sad and wonderful. And should you like it, don’t forget Everything Leads to You and Hold Still.
I can't begin to describe this book in any way that will do it the justice it deserves. The story unfolds slowly, delicately (you feel that if, like a very old bit of folded paper, it didn't do so gently it would crumble beneath your fingers and be lost), and it is gorgeous and stark, sad and wonderful. I loved Marin from the first page to the last and cried a whole spectrum of tears with her and for her.
Her high school friend Mabel is coming for a visit, and Marin is very anxious about the visit. She hasn’t spoken or returned any of Mabel’s texts or messages since she left for college. Mabel has been her closest friend for many years, and the summer before they left for college they’d become even closer. Mabel left, and then Marin’s grandfather disappeared, swallowed by the ocean.
This is a spare but deeply emotional read. It circles from the present to the past and back, drawing the reader gently but inexorably into Marin’s story. Though not heavy on plot, it’s a compelling read. It deals with heavy issues in a way that is ultimately comforting. If this description appeals to you, you will probably love this book. I think it’s the sort of story that will stay with me for a long time.
“We were miraculous.
We were beach creatures.
We had treasures in our pockets and each other on our skin.”
4 stars are mostly symbolic - they are for the feelings, the ambience and the writing. The book itself is not spectacular, nor is it as emotionally devastating
“I wonder if there's a secret current that connects people who have lost something. Not in the way that everyone loses something, but in the way that undoes your life, undoes your self, so that when you look at your face it isn't yours anymore.”
If you are looking for a plot driven book - this is not a book for you, it might actually bore you to death. This is a slow book that reads very much like a dairy in present tense. It's more of a journal of musings and feelings and contemplations than anything else. But somehow, on some level it works.
There were ridiculous things that were so obviously overlooked - such as girls never even doubted in their minds that maybe it wasn't a good idea go to strangers house just because he offered nicely, even if it's storming and he is school's house keeper. I was baffled at how gullible they were, if this was a tv show that situation would probably have ended in rape or murder.
There was also such vast emptiness around everything - names and things were thrown around, but none of them ever had any more page time than just a few sentences - fleeting and abrupt. I understand that this is the style of the whole book, but still I wished for things to feel a bit more...finished.
“I could say the night felt magical, but that would be embellishment.
That would be romanticization.
What it actually felt like was life.”
Overall if I had to describe the book in 3 words I'd say:
​Raw, simple, sensual.
I also enjoyed how Marin's views were very much minimalistic and how every object she owned had a meaning and a place - it was something I could really relate to. Also, I absolutely adored the cover. We are okay is a very quick read that will appeal t many, but definitely not all.
“You go through life thinking there's so much you need...Until you leave with only your phone, your wallet, and a picture of your mother.”
I really enjoyed my time with it.
Marin always lived a life of solitude, but to her it was the norm. She entrusted her
It was like a dark cloud hovering over a once clear blue sky. It was poetic and thought provoking, but also tragic and all consuming. It focused on grief, but also touched on self identifying and family turmoil. I found myself wrapped up in the pages and analyzing each and every sentence. I think so many will appreciate the words because they can be interpreted in so many different ways. It's a life lesson book with inspiration for all.
After the event that underpins the whole book occurred, Marin walked away from her life, and went across country to start college with
This is a story about grief and grieving, about what it means to be family, and how a single event can derail your entire life. It is also a story about how family can look fine, but be horribly dysfunctional, and why it might be like that.
The cover is more beautiful than the plot.
I think my biggest issue with this book is I didn't care about any of the characters. They were all very boring, and flat, and kind of blended into each other. I felt like I was reading words on a page, rather than reading about people.
The plot is actually very nice, a bittersweet tale about love and grief and acceptance, and I found it very easily to run through. It kept me flipping pages, wanting to understand everything, to understand Marin's grief and loss, but it never packed a punch. I never felt sad.
So while it was good, it wasn't for me. I don't regret reading it, but it didn't leave me devastated and thus probably won't stick with me for long.
**Also always here for painfully good f/f make-out scenes. *clutches heart*
Longer RTC.
Basically this book is well written and I would recommend it as a emotional and engaging read even if I personally had a weird time with it.