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 really wanted to love this book because Nina LaCour's first book, "Hold Still," is one of my all-time favorite YA books. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I just found this book to be extremely dull. It's very starkly written and starkly plotted; in other words, nothing really happens. I was also excited for a bisexual MC, but even that ended up being a little disappointing, because I really, really wanted a romance, and that part fell flat. Maybe I simply had different expectations for what the book was going to be about than what it actually ended up being, which I suppose isn't really the book's fault, but it was just SO. BORING. The MC spends most of it sitting around the college in the dead of winter thinking about all the bad emotions in her life, doesn't have many interactions with other characters, and really doesn't do all that much.
I was expecting the writing style to be emotional and lyrical like Hold Still, and I unfortunately didn't get much of that, either. I guess the writing style fits the story, but I was so bored while reading. This was a major disappointment for me considering how much I loved the author's first book, and now I'm a little wary of reading her other books as well.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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18 February, 2017:
Finished reading
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18 February, 2017:
Reviewed