We Are Okay
A Novel
Book - 2017
0525425896



Opinion
From Library Staff
2018 After picking up and leaving everything behind in California, eighteen-year-old Marin, with the help of her former friend, must confront her grief and the truths that caused her to flee her home.
From the critics

Community Activity
Quotes
Add a Quote“That girl she was trying to reach- she must have been running from something. She must have been someone special, for her friend to keep trying so hard. Too bad she was gone now.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
“I listened to the same heartbroken song the entire bus ride home, because it was still a summer when sadness was beautiful.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
“Tragedy," she says. "Heartbreak." She stops and then she makes sure that I'm looking at her. "Betrayal." Her eyes bore into mine... "These are all things that change a person. If we endure them and we aren't changed, then something is wrong.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
“I don't know if I still love her in the way I used to, but I still find her just as beautiful.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
“I could say the night felt magical, but that would be embellishment.
That would be romanticization.
What it actually felt like was life.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
“We were nostalgic for a time that wasn't yet over.”
― Nina LaCour, We Are Okay
"It's a dark place not knowing. it's difficult to surrender to. but i guess it's where we live most of the time. i guess it's where we all live, so maybe it doesn't have to be so lonely. maybe i can settle into it, cozy up to it, make a home inside uncertainly"
Surprisingly enough, this was the most relatable and enjoyable line for me in the book. It was honestly disappointing.
"The panties had a picture of the mascot across the butt. They were fun, even if only I would ever see them."

"Tragedy," she says. "Heartbreak." She stops and then she makes sure that I'm looking at her. "Betrayal. . . .
"These are all things that change a person. If we endure them and we aren't changed, then something is wrong."

There are degrees of obsession, of awareness, of grief, of insanity. Those days and nights in the motel room I weighed each of them against the other. I tried to make sense of what had happened, but each time I came up short. Each time I thought I may have understood, some line of logic snapped and I was thrust back into not knowing.
It's a dark place, not knowing.
It's difficult to surrender to.
But I guess it's where we live most of the time. I guess it's where we all live, so maybe it doesn't have to be so lonely. Maybe I can settle into it, cozy up to it, make a home inside uncertainty.

Comment
Add a CommentWe Are Okay by Nina LaCour is a story about Marin and her past best friend Mabel. After Marin loses her grandfather, she decides that the memories she has of life in San Francisco are too painful to let her continue to live there. She runs away to New York, where she begins university classes and lives with her roommate, Hannah. The book begins at Christmastime, when all of the students have gone home to be with their families.
We Are Okay is such an amazing book! It is sad, heartfelt, and just so beautiful. The author: Nina LaCour portrayed the hurt her character felt so wonderfully I felt as though I was going through all that hurt myself. We Are Okay has love, loss and loneliness-I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book with a sad, lonely main character trying to find themselves. We Are Okay follows Marin and her past and present self as she goes from the happy-go-lucky girl in California to the lonely-friendless girl in New York. I would recommend this book to readers 13+. If you choose to read this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 4.5/5 stars
@goodies06 of the Hamilton Public Library's Teen Review Board
The writing and plot moves quickly. I was able to finish this book in two days. There are a few really good lines and the setting and characters are believable. Not everything gets wrapped up perfectly by the end of this book, but I honestly love that. I'd recommend this book to people in the future, so for me, that's a good read.
This book should be a must-read for anyone who has ever had the feeling to run.
Oh my god this book was beautiful! I felt every second of grief and emotion that flowed throughout. I must admit that I began reading as a girl who likes girls and was REALLY routing for the girls to get together, but after I finished I made my peace with the fact that that wasn't the point. It was about the main character's emotional journey and her internal struggle to find some semblance of peace. I couldn't have asked for a better ending. I read it at work and I literally cried. It was so beautiful and passionate and hard. I could really relate in many ways as someone who went through depression and I almost felt a since of companionship and understanding with the main character.
I would recommend this book to people who are into deep literature. I would not recommend this book to people who are not prepared to deal with deep and hard emotional experiences.
Beautiful. Not my typical read, but I don't even care. So, so good.
A few notes on this book... I started reading this book because Barnes and Noble listed it as a feminist read. Unless I'm missing something, this book is definitely not about feminism. It's about loss, grief, mental illness, love, friendship, sexuality, and family. I loved reading about how grief is portrayed in this book. Grief is such a complicated, life-changing stage in life, and the book does a great job of talking through those complications and what it looks like. I hated that the book didn't give me more on the relationship between the main character and her family. It sort of grazes over it in umbrella-like speech. As far as I can remember, not a lot in this book made me laugh. It's a pretty serious book. There were parts that almost made me cry though. Without giving any spoilers, there was a scene at the end of the book with Ana that hit me with such a force of tenderness, I almost cried. Overall, I'd definitely recommend the book to teens trying to understand grief.
A heartbreaking yet heartwarming story of love, loss, and the family we call our own.
This is probably one of the most beautifully heartbreaking books I’ve ever read. I don’t know much about the kind of grief that Marin went through, but this book helps me understand it a little more. I would recommend it to anyone who either wants an interesting story or is going through grief and wants someone to relate to.
When Marin suddenly flees her southern California home for college in New York, she leaves behind everything but her phone, her wallet, and a picture of her mother. Her best friend, Mabel, is even left in the dust - Marin won't answer her texts or calls. Over winter break, Marin stays alone in her college dorm, awaiting Mabel's arrival for a three-day visit. A lonely tale of grief and love, "We Are Okay" tests the limits of familial bonds and explores what it takes to start over. A stunning, compact volume featuring queer romance and parallels to "Jane Eyre" - definitely worth a read.
“I was okay just a moment ago. I will learn how to be okay again.”
This book is slow in pace, but I loved that it was written slowly, in the middle of winter, set in a nearly empty campus in a dorm room. It adds to the lonely, isolated, and desolate feelings that Marin is grappling with. One day Marin gets up and leaves her current life behind and starts over at a college in California, not having spoken to anyone from her former life in N.Y. She's alone in her dorm and awaiting a visit from her best friend Mabel, to finally confront her past. This is a beautifully woven story of grief, acceptance, and learning how to move on. Be prepared to read something light to lift your spirits after the heaviness of this beautiful story.