We Are the Goldens

by Dana Reinhardt

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I'm quite conflicted about my feelings for We Are the Goldens. On one hand, I did love it. I found the story interesting, and I loved the narrative. On the other hand, I was also a bit annoyed with Nell, who is our narrator. Nell and her older sister, Layla, are super close. So close that Nell use to think they were the same person. Now she's starting high school, and couldn't be more excited to be at the same place as her sister. However, it's not as great as Nell anticipated. Layla becomes distant, but it's not a matter of finding out why. She does tell Nell, but now Nell has to decide whether she's going to keep her promise to keep it to herself, or do the right thing.

We Are the Goldens is told as a letter from Nell to Layla which I immediately loved. We see exactly how close these sisters are, and how conflicted Nell is about the situation. But, we also see just how open Nell is with her sister and this leads to some weird stuff. Nell admits to talking to two dead boys that they use to know, and seeks advice from them. They "appear" a few times, and each time was weirder than the last. They're not ghosts; there is no paranormal twist. They're kind of like imaginary friends, only creepier. When Nell summons them, she treats them as if they're real and even refuses to change her clothes when they're around. This was all super weird and added nothing to the story.

What prompted me to pick up We Are the Goldens was the student-teacher relationship. Layla is having an affair with their art teacher, Mr. Barr. Every year there's a rumor about him and a female student, since he's young, hot, and hip. Supposedly, these rumors are just rumors, until it moved onto Layla. She believes she's in love and found her "forever" and she shares this with Nell. Well, Nell knows this is wrong, but she doesn't want to break her sister's trust. But after learning something quite shocking at the end, the truth needs to come out.

We Are the Goldens has one of those endings where it's all building up to this one moment, only to fade to black. While I wanted to know about the aftermath, I do think this ending worked. We know what Nell is going to say, and we can probably guess at everyone's reactions. I just would have liked a little bit more, maybe a brief epilogue. Or, flip the tables, and end it with a letter from Layla to Nell (or to Mr. Barr). I really would have liked to see the consequences of this relationship.

In the end, I did really like We Are the Goldens. Just a few things kept me from rating it higher, but I do think it's worth a read. I thought getting an outside perspective on the student-teacher relationship was an interesting twist. Instead of getting all of the rationalizations from the student, we get to see how the relationship is changing them without them even being aware. I also loved how the author included a boy-girl best friend relationship that didn't immediately flip to romance once they're forced into an emotional situation.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.