e-Audio, 02:14:52
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Read from: February 21, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: LibroFM (I received an e-ALC from the publisher and LibroFm in exhange for a just and honest review. A huge thank you for the free e-ALC.)
Content Warning: Grief, Child Death, Car Accident, Cancer, Racism, Police Brutality
For Readers Interested In: Audio, Auto Buy Authors, Sparkly Covers, Middle Grade, Most Anticipated, Racial/Ethnic Diversity (Black), Realistic Fiction, Stand-alone, Novels in Verse, Grief# 1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant new novel in verse and vignettes.
Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. WIthout the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life — and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is an important story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.*MY TH
*MY THOUGHTS*
This MG book was confirmation that I will read anything that Renée Watson writes lol I’m not a huge fan of novels in verse, but if you slap Renée Watson’s name on it? Immediate fan. And after reading this, it still tracks.
Ok so the main character was what made this for me. I had such a hard time reading this. I just wanted to step in and give her a hug. She was hurting and it was almost palpable. And the crash-out she had was so real. My heart was hurting for her. It’s so hard to make things seem so real in novels in verse because sometimes it gets a bit choppy since you’re not writing completely in prose. But whatever Renée Watson did, it completely worked.
The romance was cute, but I think I cared more about her and what was happening to her. But I do understand that it was probably used there as a plot device. Basically to show how she was healing and that she was healing. It showed that she deserved to be happy and deserved to have these things, even when she thought she didn’t.
This was so good! It’s not normal for me to get so emotional from a novel in verse, but it really can’t be helped with Renée Watson. I really hope y’all go pick this up. It’s definitely worth the read!
Overall, I give this
