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
“I was okay just a moment ago. I will learn how to be okay again.”
I've been wanting to read Nina Lacour's work for a while because a lot of people rave about her, but just never picked up one. Thanks to the DBC though I did and I actually read a book the month it was for!
We Are Okay isn't focused on romantic love at all. It deals with the love a family can bring and a love that is missing sometimes and how you don't know that wasn't love until something happens and you see other peoples lives and they show you how they love.
Marin has lived with her grandfather since her mom died when she was three. Since then they have an arrangement that he doesn't go into her room, and she doesn't go into his part of the house. They share the other parts of the house. This arrangement makes it so Marin doesn't really know much about her mom, or her grandpa because he refuses to talk about her. Instead, all he talks about is this Birdie person who he writes to all the time. Thankfully Marin has a best friend Mabel who's family loves her like their own and even though things get a little weird between them before they leave for college and after a tragedy happens and Marin just leaves and doesn't reply to messages, Mabel and her parents are still there for her.
Once at college Marin is just really going through the motions she doesn't really participate in much besides what her roommate does and is just a shell of who she used to be before she found out grandpa's big secret. She has never dealt with the loss of her mother and now its finally time to as well as anger and even more loss.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a slow start at first, but the last half of the book had me hooked and I didn't want to put it down! Now to read more of Lacour's work in the new year!
Reading updates
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Started reading
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23 December, 2017:
Finished reading
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23 December, 2017:
Reviewed