Perfect for fans of John Green's Turtles All the Way Down and Nina LaCour's We Are Okay, this is the poignant and uplifting story of Maeve, who is dealing with anxiety while falling in love with a girl who is not afraid of anything. Think positive. Don’t worry; be happy. Keep calm and carry on.
Maeve has heard it all before. She’s been struggling with severe anxiety for a long time, and as much as she wishes it was something she could just talk herself out of, it’s not. She constantly imagines the worst, composes obituaries in her head, and is always ready for things to fall apart. To add to her troubles, her mom—the only one who really gets what Maeve goes through—is leaving for six months, so Maeve will be sent to live with her dad in Vancouver.
Vancouver brings a slew of new worries, but Maeve finds brief moments of calm (as well as even more worries) with Salix, a local girl who doesn’t seem to worry about anything. Between her dad’s wavering sobriety, her very pregnant stepmom insisting on a home birth, and her bumbling courtship with Salix, this summer brings more catastrophes than even Maeve could have foreseen. Will she be able to navigate through all the chaos to be there for the people she loves?
An ALA Rainbow Book List selection
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
"With Maeve, Mac delivers a character who's heartwarmingly real and sympathetic, and her story provides a much needed mirror for anxious queer girls everywhere."—Kirkus, Starred review
"This is a good companion book for other anxiety-riddled stories, such as The Shattering by Karen Healey, and Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella."—Booklist
"This hopeful offering will resonate with young people for their own lives, even if the journey is hard and takes time and patience...[a] compelling portrait of a teen’s experiences with anxiety and challenging family dynamics."--SLJ
"Mac carefully makes clear that Maeve is plenty able to find joy other places than the perfect girl and that she’s working at dealing with her own problems; the romance is therefore lovely and cozy and free from overtones of dependency. The descriptions of anxiety are true and powerful, and romance buffs will likely revel in a book celebrating deep connection."—The Bulletin
"Mac is good at showing how a dread-filled mind works... [An] affecting story.''—Publishers Weekly
I’m going to do this review a little differently – instead of a normal review, here are the 10 things I loved about this book, inspired by the title.
I *loved* Maeve. Her voice is so strong, so loud, it will stay with me for ages, after finishing this book.
The mental health rep is fantastic. Maeve worries, but not in the way I worry, or you might worry, but in the way the 3% of people in the world worries, all the time, and scenarios are always going around her head, for fatalities that might befall her, or her family, or anyone close to her, at any time, ever. That’s unfathomable to me, I don’t know how I would cope with all of that, without hiding under a blanket, in bed, forever.
CANADA!!!! I have a love affair with Canada, and the fact the book is 99% set in Vancouver makes me ridiculously happy. It’s the simple things sometimes.
A f/f romance. *Dances* I love f/f romances, they’re adorable and I loved Maeve and Salix.
I loved Claire. It was so refreshing to have a step-mom, step-daughter relationship that wasn’t based on hate or dislike for each other. Claire ROCKED.
Maeve’s step-brothers Owen and Corbin were adorable (I feel like this whole novel is summed up as adorable, to be honest) and I liked that Owen was a bit anxious, like Maeve and Corbin was adventurous and I just loved how they also helped Maeve, without even knowing it.
The ending would normally have made me rage-y, but since I’m coming to accept that happy ever afters aren’t always a possibility, I liked how it ended, because it did have an ending, it didn’t just stop.
Anxiety isn’t the only big topic covered – Maeve’s dad, Billy, struggles with addiction and it actually made me incredibly sad to see him wobbling, and to see Maeve and Claire and Owen and Corbin have to see it happen, too. But it was real, and I liked that.
The cover. I KNOW. That’s SO SHALLOW, RIGHT? But it’s so pretty and I don’t care.
The whole idea of that when you’re in a situation that makes you panic, or worried, or any situation (it works for anything!) you can look around you and list ten things you see. It’s SUCH a good idea.
