Lourdes, Michigan, summer of 1968. Four friends make a pact: in exactly fourteen days, before the sun’s first rays hit the lake, they will leap together into death. They are outsiders, all the four of them, for different reasons. Kay Campion is fat, as a child she found her mother who committed suicide and her father re-married only a couple of months later. Vera is beautiful and gracile, but she was bullied due to her crippled fingers. CJ is searching for his identity: does he love boys or girls? And last but not least, Saint who comes from a very poor and highly dysfunctional family. They are looking for someone who loves them just as they are and found each other. Since life does not seem to have much in offer for them, why should they continue living? Will their last 14 days on earth make a change?

The story is told from Kay’s point of view. Only step by step do we learn why she is struggling so much with life. Not just that she has lost her beloved mother and had to see her hanging in the basement, it is also the permanent question what she is to her father. Her emotions are expressed in her dysfunctional relationship with her own body – quite an authentic and typical reaction for teenage girls. Yet, for me even stronger was the character of Vera. She is really lost and without any stable ground to walk on. She seems to be highly gifted and is a perfect example of what bullying can make of a child: turning the talented dancer into a drug addict who confounds physical closeness with love. But also the boys are highly interestingly drawn. CJ who is constantly digging in his father’s past in a concentration camp and Saint who seems to have several personalities reflected in the different ways his name is used.

As shown before, the most stunning about the novel are the characters who are elaborated in every detail and thus really come alive while reading. You can easily imagine them in reality and also their pact make absolutely sense. The title - hinting at Lourdes in France with its famous Marian apparitions – promises a wonder, a sudden and unexpected healing from the things the four teenagers suffer from. But wonders do not happen that often and apparitions and inspiration are reserved for the selected few, not the average boy or girl.

A noteworthy novel which, however, I would not recommend to teenagers with emotional troubles.

Without a doubt, one of the best books of 2017. Heartfelt, genuine and beautifully written with a cast of characters so unique and believable that you don't want the story to end.

I just have to say it: this book made me uncomfortable. It'll probably make you uncomfortable too. It's an odd story, yet beautifully written and poignant in many ways. I was at times reminded of The Girls but a lot of that may have simply been the time period. It's 1968, and the world is changing... but four friends plan to stay behind.

Two girls and two boys form a unique group of friends. It's clear from the way they speak that they're all intelligent, but not without their own individual issues. I'm not sure if I've known a teenager in my lifetime that express their thoughts anything like these four do. It was at times hard to remember they were supposed to be so young... but then their complete naivety reminded me. All confused about themselves and angry at the world for different reasons, they are fiercely loyal only to each other. Anyone seen as encroaching on the group isn't welcome. Despite some jealousy and unrequited feelings, they're in it together. When one of the girls hints that she's thinking of jumping to her death after a traumatic experience she hides from the group, they initially try to talk her out of it. She's resolute. Soon it's decided that if she goes... they all go. Together. Giving themselves two weeks to do things that make themselves happy, they all agree that they'll jump into the sea on a certain date and end it all. What will happen in these two weeks and will they keep their pact?

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group, thank you! My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Shrouded in electric anticipation, this novel is set during the turbulent summer of 1968, when four friends, each ensconced within their own personal turmoil, make a deadly pact. Poetically written, the four main characters are layered within the story which builds in dreaded anticipation with each page. I knew there wouldn't be a happy ending for all, but the ending felt a little flat after so much of a buildup. Read this one during the hot days of summer when the oppressive heat boils inside your brain and you can almost identify with four stoned teens from 1968.

The prose in this is fantastic - the writer has a great writing style and it really shows here in this powerful story. It's an interesting and powerful novel.

I was sent this book because I had favorably reviewed last summer's "The Girls" by Emma Cline, and I have to say, it was a spot-on recommendation. At first, I was skeptical. Yes, it had similar themes: it's set in the past (the late 1960s) and follows a group of teenage misfits over the course of a life-changing two weeks. I was pleased to discover that Sharon Solwitz is as skilled and lyrical a writer as Emma Cline.

Right from the start the book sucks you in as, in the same breath as they are introduced, the four main characters make a suicide pact. They will live life to the fullest for the next two weeks and then, together, they will jump off a cliff and end their lives.

Over the next two weeks, we get into each of their heads, to witness the internal struggles that they they are hiding from each other, but that cement them together as friends nonetheless. We live mostly in the head of Kay, who is awkward, overweight and still reeling from the suicide of her mother; but we also spend time in the perspective of each of the others -- it's the only way to learn the secrets they keep hidden from everyone.

The suicide pact is instigated by Vera, beautiful despite the birth defect that deforms her hand. She has done something so unspeakable that she is ready to end it all. Saint, the handsome Buddhist, always wears an aura of calm that conceals both his explosive temper and his passion for Vera. And finally, there is CJ, wealthy and privileged on the surface but inwardly suffering from mental illness and the dawning realization that he is gay. The choices they make over the next two weeks will force them to face who they really are and who they might become -- and will determine the outcome for each of them.

It may at first be hard to relate to the main characters, or understand their choices, but the question of "will they jump, or won't they" will keep you going. As you experience each of their perspectives and get to know each character better over the course of the novel, you come to think of them as real people, and to ache for them. How much you like this book will very much depend on how much tolerance you have for living in the heads of extremely damaged people. Seeing the world through Vera's eyes can be very harrowing and she is not a character that you will much like, even if you come to empathize with her. At the same time, I think there is no other way to convey the reasons behind her actions - Vera would hardly be able to explain them herself as she is such a product of her environment. Things pick up towards the end of the book, as the conflicts draw to a dramatic conclusion, and the characters' final experiences are instrumental in determining their future.

Once, In Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Release Date: May 30, 2017
Length: 320 pages

Single Sentence Summary: On a hot August day in 1968 friends, Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J., take a pledge giving themselves two weeks to experience all of life and then die together.

Primary Characters: Kay, Saint, Vera and C.J. were each, for different reasons, outcasts at their small town high school. Finding each other was their salvation. They cared deeply about the group and believed their friendship would last forever, creating their own moniker: 4EVER.

Synopsis: It’s August of 1968. The country is in turmoil with protest over the Vietnam War and the upcoming Democratic Convention is expected to bring even more. In the small town of Lourdes, Illinois live four troubled teens that mean everything to each other. When one hurts, they all do. Beautiful, vulnerable, acerbic Vera is ready to end her life. Instead, her friends pledge to join her after they’ve all had a little more time to live.

Review: Once, In Lourdes by Sharon Solwitz is a story of four deeply troubled young people. When Kay was younger her mother committed suicide; she’s overweight and her new stepmother makes sure Kay knows just how distasteful that is. Saint has grown up poor, without a father and has problems with his temper. C.J. doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to live up to his father’s expectations and he’s frightened by his own feelings for other boys. And, Vera – poor, tormented Vera. Vera uses casual sex as a drug, which seems to work until she crosses a line that can never be undone. She is the catalyst for their Pledge.

Coming-of-age stories are among my favorite genres, but I found Once, In Lourdes to be a difficult book to become immersed in. Had this not been an advanced reading copy, it’s very likely that I’d have given up on it. Luckily, I did stick it out, and am very glad I did. It took until well after the halfway point for me to understand the characters and the choices each made. In all likelihood this slow character development was intentional, but it also demands a lot of the reader. Once the characters made sense to me the book became much more compelling. I loved the last third, including the ending.

Narrated by Kay, the chapters move between the four friends, slowly revealing the depth of their problems, how their unusual friendship was forged, and why they’d pledge their lives for each other.

“With the Pledge, we might have seemed to be courting death, but it was also joy we were after. We wanted to feel our birthright, what we thought other, happier people felt – the sense of endless possibility, the world shimmering around us. To dance beneath the diamond sky.”

The backdrop of late 60’s turbulence makes it easier to understand the incredible bond of these 4EVER friends. Much of the world around them doesn’t make sense, so why should their own lives? The commitment to each other is absolute, until it isn’t. With compassion and intensity Solwitz brings her quartet to the brink of adulthood, laying out futures they may not be able to survive. If you can preserver through the slow first half of Once, In Lourdes, you’ll be rewarded with the gritty elegance of the story’s conclusion. Grade: B-

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Four high school friends, all of them troubled teens, make a suicide pact on the bluffs of Lourdes. In two weeks, they will come back to this same spot and jump off the bluffs together. How will each choose to live their last two weeks? The characters’ voices feel authentic, I sympathized with their struggles, saw the potential for good in their souls and wished them all a happy ending. But the story was unsettling and I was not a fan of the direction their paths led. My fault, I should have known what I was getting into after reading other reviews. Some behaviors of these kids on the cusp of adulthood made me uncomfortable. With few exceptions, happy moments overshadowed by sadness and dysfunction is not my cup of tea. Maybe I am just old school, but I would not want my teenager to read this book. Thanks to Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

MY REVIEW

Once, In Lourdes is a story that, I have to confess, left me scratching my head. I’m also finding it a little hard to review so I’m basically just going to jump in and ramble for a bit. In the opening pages of Once, In Lourdes, we meet four teens – Kay, Vera, Saint, and CJ. They are basically outsiders at their school who managed to find their way to each other and form a pretty strong bond of friendship. When we meet them, three of them are at the park playing bridge while the fourth, Vera, is conspicuously absent. Once she finally does arrive, there is something amiss with her and her friends pry until she finally confesses that she has just dropped acid for the first time. After this confession, Vera then announces that she thinks the four of them should all kill themselves in a grand “f*** you” kind of gesture to everyone around them. After much discussion, the other three agree and they actually draw up a suicide pact where they pledge to live their lives fully for the next two weeks and then on the fourteenth day, they will return to the park at dawn, climb up on the bluff wall and throw themselves off the wall and on to the rocks below. The rest of the novel follows the four teens for those two weeks leading up to the agreed upon date of death.


LIKES

I have mixed feelings about the story overall, but I would definitely give the author full marks for her recreation of the summer of 1968. With her inclusion of little details like Bob Dylan’s music, dropping acid, sexual freedom, protests, and discussion of the Vietnam War, Solwitz captured the atmosphere perfectly and makes you feel like you’re experiencing the late 60’s era. It felt very authentic and I did love that.

I also liked how Solwitz was able to create suspense with this story. Even though I had a few issues with the story overall, I still read this in about a day because I was so curious about why these kids were so eager to end their lives and I really wanted to know if they would actually go through it or not. Since the story is being told from Kay’s point of view, I knew she had obviously survived but the fates of the others was very unclear.


DISLIKES

My biggest issue with the story was that I had a hard time connecting with any of the teens, even with Kay even though we probably got to know her the best out of the four. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m older and too far removed from my teenage years, but I just felt nothing but frustration over the fact that these kids were willing to throw their lives away. Following them for those two weeks, it was clear to see that they each came from somewhat dysfunctional home lives – there are some instances of abuse, both physical and verbal. I understood that life was a struggle for them at times, but every step of the way, all I kept thinking was “OMG, you guys are about to be high school seniors. One more year and you’re out of here anyway. Why throw everything away to make some tragic statement?” Maybe if I had connected with the characters more, I’d feel more understanding about their reasoning for making this suicide pact but as it was, I just felt like a curious onlooker watching these kids. Plus, their version of living life to the fullest and living it for themselves just didn’t really resonate with me either. For the most part, it just felt like they squandered those moments if they were indeed meant to be their final moments.

One other issue I had with the novel was that it was full of very long paragraphs. I’m sure this is just a personal quirk with me, but I prefer writing that is broken up into smaller paragraphs. Turning a page and seeing a paragraph that is over half a page long just makes me sigh and start to skim, especially when the novel is full of them. If long paragraphs don’t bother you, this probably wouldn’t be an issue like it was for me.


FINAL THOUGHTS

As I said, even though I had some issues and wished I could have better connected with the characters, their journey and their fate was still compelling enough to keep me reading until the end even if I didn’t fully understand their motives for making the pact. Once, In Lourdes is filled with dark themes – suicide, abuse, even incest – but if you can handle those, it also provides an intimate look at just how far friends are willing to go for one another.


RATING: 3 STARS


Huge thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an e-galley of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is no way affects my opinion of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story of four teenagers who hang out together, always in the same place, in the same park. They hang out, drink, smoke pot and play Bridge. Which, for me, was a very interesting game for 4 teenagers, but that's what they did.

The story lets you in on all the secrets these 4 share, including a pact to jump off a cliff, together holding hands in 2 weeks. The story kept me turning the pages and the character development kept me wanting to know more about them.

There were several laughs, a lot of angst and the real reasons why these 4 wanted to jump.

Thanks to Random House and Net Galley for approving me and allowing me to read this very entertaining galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

During the summer of 1968, four close friends in Lourdes, Michigan agree to a pact. Vera suggests to Saint, Kay and CJ that they all jump to their deaths at the end of two weeks. They’ll meet as they normally do at the Haight, a park with a high ledge over the sea, but for the sole purpose of completing their pact.
Each person has his or her own demons, and hand sketches by Kay are interspersed throughout the novel. The characters are created in a quiet, almost sad setting. At times each character acted on impulse and did completely illogical things (running naked for miles, incest) then at others they held deeply philosophical discussions that meandered on for pages. Certain areas of the book became more interesting, and then suddenly things would slow down to a meditative pace.
I slowly continued with the book because I was interested in how it ends. There were times I couldn’t put it down, then times I postponed picking it up.
In short, this is a well-written book, but not so much for my personal interests. I think the author is very talented and brings the reader into the world of the book successfully; it’s just not a world I’m interested in.
I’ve read some comparisons between this and Emma Kline’s “The Girls”. I didn’t pick up on any similarities. I found “The Girls” to be much faster paced and much more shocking than this scenario.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for making it available.)

I give Once, in Lourdes 3.5 stars. Set in the summer of 1968, four angst-filled teenagers (2 boys & 2 girls) bond and swear to be friends forever. Each has problems fitting in with others, so this foursome comes to mean everything to them. One of the girls has a troubled home life, and she decides to commit suicide. The others try to talk her out of it, then decide if she is serious, they'll sign a pact to all commit suicide together by jumping off a bluff. While Vera wants to do it right away, the other three want to wait a month so they can do all the things they haven't had a chance to do yet. They compromise at two weeks.

The story of those two weeks is told in each of their alternating voices. We come to learn each of their stories, their dreams, their inner conflicts, their pain. The author makes it easy to remember high school years when everything was either black or white and seemed of utmost importance. With the time clock ticking down, there's a growing sense of wondering if they will follow through on their pact, or decide that life is worth living. And who will decide what?

A dark, yet intriguing read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Spiegel and Grau publisher for allowing me the privilege of reading an e-ARC of this book

Thank you for the chance to read this book. I just couldn't connect with it and was unable to finish it. I won't leave a review anywhere. Thank you again for thinking of me and allowing me the chance to read it

“Once in Lourdes” by Sharon Solwitz, takes place in a small town in 1968, where four inseparable teenagers vow to live this summer as if it is their last- which of course it is since the same four have also made a suicide pact. Vera, CJ, Saint and Kay spend the summer exploring themselves (and each other) with careless disregard and fearless abandon, knowing the consequences they suffer will be short-lived. However as the time grows nearer, fears and doubts begin to blossom and we are left questioning if they will indeed go through with their ill-fated pact.
This novel was just barely 3.5 stars. I almost did not finish it on several occasions, and really only remained remotely interested because I wanted to see who (if any) would follow through with the pact. The novel was too long in spots (CJ and Kay going to Chicago to join a peaceful protest with a bunch of hippies spoke to the era, sure, but did not provide much else by way of plot development) and although there were parts I enjoyed (the very dysfunctional backgrounds of all of the teenaged protagonists for example), they were not nearly interesting enough to keep me engaged.
The characters’ language was pretentious and unnecessarily complex. I am not one to say teenagers are stupid or uneducated (by any means) however they do not often sit around contemplating the philosophical theories of the Tao Te Ching while playing bridge. It was a little ridiculous and unrealistic. I felt like the author was going for a “Perks of Being a Wallflower” vibe (fascinating novel with a great movie adaptation), but simply fell flat with her whiny, verbose characters and their angst-ridden love affairs.
It is evident the author has some creative writing experience, as Ms. Solwitz seems skilled in character development and is able to keep the plot moving fluidly (it was not at all choppy, or broken, and seemed to follow a steady stream). The ending also added a little bit of surprise for a reader, which is always a good thing. I enjoyed Kay as a character more than the rest of them, as she had the honest self-wariness and insecurities that we expect to see from a teenaged protagonist. This novel was recommended to me because I read Emma Cline’s “The Girls”, and I do see some similarities between the two novels (including taking place during the same time period). Ms. Solwitz’s novel would definitely be for anyone who was a huge fan of “The Girls” (I was also only moderately impressed with this novel, too) or readers interested in the sixties as a time period. The novel is well written for sure, but I craved more drama and less vocabulary.

This coming of age book, was intense. The emotions these kids carried around was enough to make me have to take a break from reading it, a few times.

The 60's is always a time period that I wish I could have lived in. The music, the lifestyle, the incredible changes in history that occurred, just some of the things I wanted to witness. On some level I think many people can relate to these teens at some point in their life.

This book touched on so many issues, and it was so well written, that you were not overloaded with information, with back story, with character development. It's a book that devours you, and you can't put it down. You root for these teens, and you want them to survive and overcome. You become attached and you fight for them, the way you want them to fight. Well Done Sharon Solwitz

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. The subject matter (suicidal teens) is very current, but I personally didn't find the novel to be very engaging.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the story of 4 teenagers, set in the late 1960s, in a fictional lakeside town in Michigan. All 4 teens come from somewhat dysfunctional families but find kindred souls in each other to the exclusion of everyone else. They struggle with all of the things that teens struggle with no matter what the era - they see things in black and white, don't see much of a future, and friends are everything. So much so that they form a Pledge - vowing to throw themselves of a ledge onto the rocks into the lake. The book is told from mostly Kay's point of view and you know from the start that she survived but don't know about the other 3.

I had mixed feelings about this book - for most of it, I kind of felt like it was a school reading assignment and I was just trudging my way through it without being too emotionally involved. However, things picked up at the end. The writing was solid and maybe I'm just too old for teenage angst!

CJ, Saint, Kay and Vera make a pact to commit suicide together two weeks after the 4ever friends stop the severely messed up Vera from killing herself. As the story unfolds we learn about all the difficulties they each face and their individual reasons beyond just the bond of friendship to end it together. This book was recommended to me, from the publisher to read and review early due to a similar title I had read in the past. I thank them for the opportunity to read this title I would have otherwise passed on, but I have to admit it wasn't for me.

Vera started it but she wouldn’t end it alone. She set them all free, she gave them the option and they choose each other, for that was the only option they thought they had, the only option that made sense to them. The option would come in fourteen days, Vera and her three best friends would take their lives just beyond the fencing but for now, they had two weeks to do the things they thought they needed to get done.

Through the years, these four teens have created a loving bond with each other, one where they felt comfortable being who they were. The conversations that they had with one other and the topics that they talked about are all over the place, it was comical and bizarre reading how these four friends conversed with one another. Vera was the character that jarred me the most. Her comments, attitude and flightiness made her unpredictable to me, I worried about her and I wondered how she would affect the group. The author slowly released information about Vera and l got to learn about her but she still remained an unpredictable character for me. It was almost too cozy for me sometimes as I read how well these friends got along but they seemed to be able to handle their relationship. While at home, each of these teens have different issues that they are addressing, some more serious than others. With only two weeks to get their affairs in order, time is quickly coming to an end while some activities are heating up. These friends really knew each other, I felt that they knew each other better than the individuals knew themselves. Maybe Vera was right when she said that everyone is messed up some way in their own lives. When I first started this novel, I wasn’t sure if this novel was one for me but the more that I read, the more I enjoyed it and the last half of the novel, really pulled me in.

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for a honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Sharon Solwitz, and Random House Publishing Group for providing me a copy of this novel.

3.5 stars. rounded up
1968. Bob Dylan on the transistor radio, reading Tao Te Ching, dropping acid, the convention protests in Chicago, discussing the Vietnam War around the dinner table. Solwitz sets the stage for these four misfit teenagers who are best friends and she does a good job of describing the place and time. The four make a suicide pact with the intention of giving themselves two weeks before carrying it out. Initially told from Kay’s perspective, you know from the get go that she, at least, survives. Her part of the narrative is filled with references to her memory and how she is seeing what happened then through the lens of how things played out.

You feel for these kids. Everyone can remember how as a teenager everything seems so final and important, that bad times will never get better. Everything is always so black and white at that age. But while I felt for them, I had a hard time getting into their heads. Am I that old? They seemed somehow obtuse, too dense to infiltrate. I felt more like I was watching them from above. Or watching a movie about them.

There is enough tension here to keep you engaged. You want to know, who, if any of them, might follow through on The Pact. And then, the ending. OMG. So sad and heart rendering.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.