Name: Lovely, Dark and Deep
ISBN: 9781442434356

Amy McNamara

In the aftermath of a car accident that kills her boyfriend and throws her carefully planned future into complete upheaval, high school senior Wren retreats to the deep woods of Maine to live with the artist father she barely knows and meets a boy who threatens to pull her from her safe, hard-won exile.

Lovely, Dark and Deep

Kris Felger

I remember stealing this book from my middle school library when I was thirteen (i do not condone stealing, i was stupid and a child). I remember seeing the beautiful cover and thinking, this book will be SO good. I was right, it was the first book that made me cry so hard I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I remember being relieved by this. 

At thirteen I was lost, scared, I felt like I was drowning in my own feelings. Nobody understands it, they ask you whats wrong as if you can fit it into a short sentence, as if you can tell them whats wrong without bursting at the seems, they look at you as if you have anything to be sad about. 

I know this book revolves around grief, at thirteen i hadn’t experienced that. Yet this book felt like a hug to me all the same, a small “I see you. I see your emotions. This is normal, you’re okay.” Its okay to feel sad, its okay to sit and just be. Its okay to cry and scream. Its also okay to ask for help, lean on others. Its okay to soak someone else’s t-shirt with tears, even if you have no reason to cry. 

Reading this book after experiencing grief just solidifies the feeling of not being alone. others feel this way too, others have gone through it too. It feels good, not being alone, other people have this overbearing amount of weight on their chests too. 

All of this just to say, I love this book. I loved it then and I love it now, I’ll love it in ten years.

kris

Julie D.

Shazia Moolla

angelica silva

Izza

Nicole Hedley

Sara Sotlar

Sydney Cournoyer

Brynn

Phoebe Tzani

Kayla

The “quiet emergence from despair rings true” (Kirkus Reviews) in this resonant debut novel about retreating from the world after losing everything. Wren Wells is hiding out. Though she lived through the accident that killed her boyfriend Patrick, the girl she used to be didn’t survive. Instead of heading off to college as planned, Wren retreats to her father’s studio in the northern woods of Maine. All she wants is a little quiet, a place where she can be in control. Then she meets Cal Owen. Dealing with his own troubles, Cal is hiding out too. When the chemistry between them threatens to pull Wren from her hard-won exile, Wren has to choose: risk opening her broken heart to the world again, or join the ghosts who haunt her.

Lovely, Dark and Deep

Reviews

Highlights