About the Book
-
Author:
- Nina LaCour
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Girl-Girl Romance
- New Adult
Cover Story: Sleep Sailing
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Talky Talk: Essentials
Bonus Factors: Friendship, Awesome Parents, College
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful (Grand)Parenting
Relationship Status: Name On The Door
Cover Story: Sleep Sailing
Our main character appears to be standing on her bed while it floats across the ocean, looking up at the night sky, to show us how adrift she feels throughout most of the story. The frontispiece in my hardcover edition has an extra illustration of the empty college by starlight. It’s a dreamy, surreal image that suits the book.
The Deal:
Marin Delaney is the only person left in her college dorm over the winter holidays because she has nowhere else to go. When the grandfather who raised her, her only relative, passed away, she left home without a word to anyone, even Mabel, her best friend and first love. Now that Mabel is coming to visit for Christmas, the idea frightens Marin as much as it makes her happy. Can Mabel forgive her for the four months of silence? And will Marin ever be able to face what happened the night her grandfather died?
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
I know it’s wrong to ghost someone, especially a close friend and/or partner, but I completely understand why Marin did it. She was lied to by someone she trusted all her life, and it shattered her foundation. The only way she knew to survive was to rebuild from the ground up, even if it meant leaving everything and everyone behind. I admire Marin’s roommate, Hannah, who gave her winter boots, bedsheets and unquestioning acceptance at the time she needed them most. I could have done that. (I hope.)
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Mabel describes her relationship with Marin as a friendship that got “less clearly defined”. Quiet tension simmers between them along with compassion. They loved each other once and still do, despite the hurt caused by Marin’s disappearance and Mabel’s moving on with someone else. A lot of Mabel’s visit is taken up with figuring out what that means.
Talky Talk: Essentials
Marin cites 19th-century British artist William Morris when decorating her side of the dorm room, saying she wants everything she owns to be either useful or beautiful. This is the way LaCour writes: not a word out of place, every detail lovingly chosen. I finished it in two hours and felt like I’d lived Marin’s entire life.
Bonus Factor: Friendship
Mabel goes above and beyond the call of duty. Not even four months of unanswered messages will stop her from making sure Marin is okay. Then there’s Hannah, whom Marin credits with bringing her back to life; we should all be so lucky as to have a roommate like her.
Bonus Factor: Awesome Parents
Mabel’s parents, Ana and Javier, are Marin’s role models for how a healthy family behaves. In flashbacks, we see how much their warm hospitality meant to her.
Bonus Factor: College
There is a lonely sort of freedom in starting college, intensified in Marin’s case by her situation. When you’re away from everyone you’ve ever known, you get to reinvent yourself. Marin used to love Gothic novels, but can no longer tolerate them, so Hannah teaches her to look for beauty and mystery in nature instead. She walks into a pottery shop on impulse and walks out with a job offer. She takes pride in looking after a potted plant. It takes me back to my own university days.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful (Grand)Parenting
As much as I feel for him, Marin’s grandfather made some terrible mistakes. He must have meant to protect her, but his decisions hurt her deeply.
Relationship Status: Name On The Door
Dear Book, just like the room Marin wishes for with her name on the door, there will always be a place for you in my home.
Literary Matchmaking
The Only Girl In Town by Allie Condie adds a twist of magic realism to the theme of loneliness.
The Loneliest Girl In The Universe by Lauren James has the same premise, but in space and with added suspense.
Everything Leads To You by LaCour is a similar love story, this time told from the healthy girl’s perspective as she reaches out to the traumatized stranger.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. We Are Okay is available now.
