We Were Here

by Daisy Prescott

[leelu92]

We Were Here is one of those books that I put off reading. The reason being, I didn't want to read it and be done with it. Truth be told, there are very few authors whose books I procrastinate reading for this reason. Daisy Prescott is on that very short list.

I fell in love with Daisy Prescott and the Geoduck crew two years and I love that she has written a book that has reopened the Geoduck world, in a way that I'd never thought possible. First of all, WWH is written in SEVEN points of view. Seven characters and seven different voices. When do you ever get that? When do you get to go back and read an origin story like this? It's pretty epic if you ask me.

On top of it being written in all different POVs, it's set in the early 90s and everything about that feels completely organic and stripped down to what matters. No texting, no Facebook just music and relationships. When I look back at high school (class of 1992) and college (97) every single memory had a song attached to it. I can listen to Spotify today and hear a song and be struck completely dumb because music from the eighties and nineties is so closely woven into my experiences then. Can you say mixtape?

(I'm a bit frustrated because I have a few mix tapes from high school in storage somewhere and I cannot locate them. I've all but taken everything out of the storage room and busted open every tote full of yearbooks and actual print pictures.)

Each chapter of WWH is a different song title and there are some that are real memory makers for me and this book in many ways plucks at every string I have. Prescott created a close- knit group of friends in Geoducks and in WWH we experience who they were and how their group came to be. WWH also takes us along for the ride as each character experiences that first non-high school/college relationship /crush/hook up experience. In some way, every one of those characters is greatly influenced by the experience. Didn't we all have those? The person we met before we met the "one". As a freshman, I dated a grad student (thank god my mom won't read this) and it was quite a learning experience. (Not in that way.) He was a perfectly nice guy until I wanted to break up and then he was dedicating stupid songs to me at his fraternity house party. Whatever. (insert eye roll here) But that experience taught me that just because they were older didn't mean, they were mature. Each and every character in WWH has a similar experience and it shaped who we meet in Geoducks.

We get the origin story of Ben and Jo, the intense and sometimes murky friendship of Gil and Maggie. (GilandMaggie4ever) I LOVED seeing the evolution of those friendships and relationships. Selah, Lizzy, and Quinn meet those people that really make you stop and examine what you want in a relationship.

Now, you do not have to have read Geoducks to get WWH. In fact, as soon as I finished WWH, I went straight to Geoducks. As I said, it had been two years and I had this new reference point to see the characters and to experience some things that I did not see coming. (Cryptic, I know.)

If you haven't read Daisy Prescott, please give her a try. In a world of overdone, tropetastic, neverending stepbrothers, billionaires and badasses, Prescott is writing real experiences and taking us back to places and times we treasure visiting every single time. She will make you laugh (always), make you cry (sometimes) but you'll always be happier and enriched for the reading experience.

Copy for review provided by author