Book Review: We Are Okay

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

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.

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK                                                              

This was just okay. 

I enjoyed this book somewhat. It had so much potential. It was beautifully written but extremely boring. So many times I was ready to just give up on the book and I hate that. I loved the way the author worded everything and made things feel real. The attention to detail was there in every step of the way. I really appreciated that aspect of things. That made it lovely and gave it three stars. 

“I thought that it was more likely the opposite. I must have shut grief out. Found it in books. Cried over fiction instead of the truth. The truth was unconfined, unadorned. There was no poetic language to it, no yellow butterflies, no epic floods. There wasn't a town trapped underwater or generations of men with the same name destined to make the same mistakes. The truth was vast enough to drown in.” 

Like nothing at all ever happened in this book. If you want a mundane book about things you do every day than by all means read this book. Want to read about someone doing the dishes, going shopping, eat, brush their teeth, then read this book. It will be riveting to you. There are far too many details when nothing happens. 

“I wonder if there's a secret current that connects people who have lost something. Not in the way that everyone loses something, but in the way that undoes your life, undoes your self, so that when you look at your face it isn't yours anymore.” 

This is supposed to be a poignant story about loss, grief, and sadness but in reality, at this point, I could care less. I don’t care why our main character Marin is running away from the death of her grandfather, why she cant take the pain at this point. It had beautiful emotions but just was too boring and took far to long to get to any real point. This is a slow emotional build up for sure. 

“And I think of how time passes so differently for different people.” 

In summary, this was just an okay book. It had well-developed characters that were rounded individuals, it even had diversity. It had beautiful words it just was far too slow for my individual tastes. I am just not the right audience for this book.