There are no words about how deep and moving The Names They Gave Us is. I connected with Lucy as a character who also had a parent who has dealt with cancer. It did really make you feel what she was feeling when you are reading the book. Emery Lord is an amazing writer who knows how to engage her readers and this is no different than her past books. She depicted each relationship that Lucy engaged in and made it more special. Also the importance of family. You will definitely want tissues after reading it.

I absolutely love this cover! It plays a key component in the book. Its eye catching! Lucy is the daughter of a Pastor and faith play a part in her life. But then her mother's cancer returns and now Lucy is on her own path. Even a pause relationship with her boyfriend. Eventually, she finds her own voice at a new camp her mother suggests and connecting with a diverse group. The romance between her and Henry was adorable from the beginning. I also loved the strong connection with her mother that it made you cry even more of what she is going through.

The Names They Gave Us is book to definitely pick up. Until the very last page I was emotional and I felt that it could've been more! Reading this book made my heart full and made me think of my father. Even through the smile and tears I was happy by the end. Emery Lord is definitely an auto-buy author for me so I will be anticipating her next book!

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord is amazing. Lucy is such a strong character. I feel like Lucy’s struggle is something many people can relate too. Lucy is struggling with her faith and why God would allow her mom’s cancer to come back. Lucy’s mom asks her to be a counselor at a camp for troubled teens rather than going to normal church camp.

The struggle Lucy is going through is one many can relate too and I really enjoyed her self discovery. This story is about finding out who you are and where you belong. I enjoyed the fact that I could relate to Lucy and her struggles.

Lord brings her readers another amazing book. Lord has definitely turned into an auto-buy author for me. Emery Lord brings so much passion and soul to her books. I find myself getting lost in them every time.

Lucy comes from a religious background and has not qualms speaking about her faith. In the midst of her mother's newest cancer diagnoses, her break-up with her long-time boyfriend, and her new job at a secular camp, she begins to question her faith more and more. Lucy's new job at summer camp is a big shift from her previous job at her family's Christian summer camp but she begins to appreciate that other's have much bigger problems than she does. She even learns about herself.
It seems as if every hot-button topic is crammed into this book. Foster children, abuse, teenage pregnancy and gender identification just to name a few. I appreciated that Lucy did not use her faith as a reason to immediately judge those that are different from her but embraced their differences and used them to make herself more accepting.
I would probably recommend this title to teens struggling with a number of problems or a faithful person who is questioning their beliefs.

The themes of this book were deeply personal to me and it was so, so well executed.

I've loved everything Emery Lord has published, but this book holds a special place in my heart. Lucy is a lot like I was in high school - a rule follower, a "good girl", a person trying to figure out what her faith looks like. Her coming-of-age story was so well done. Her relationships with her family and her friends (both old and new) were dynamic and real, and the characters all felt really authentic to me.

And I cried. Buckets. (It takes a lot for a book to do that to me these days!)

I also just have to say that faith in YA is tricky, but this author did it justice (as I had no doubt).

Lord takes a daring step in writing about religion and cancer, topics that is sensitive for many readers, but she mostly succeeds in her latest book The Names They Gave Us. For Lucy, daughter of a pastor, religion has been a cornerstone of her identity and something that she has unquestionably followed. Lucy's faith and her world are shaken when she learns that her mother’s cancer has reoccurred. She reacts with anger that affects her relationship with her parents who try to protect her from the news, her boyfriend who keeps reassuring her that everything will be fine, and above all God who Lucy feels has betrayed her. Throughout the book we see Lucy struggle with her faith in the face of a tragedy and she slowly realizes that she isn't the one who has been on this crossroad.
I was afraid that I would have a hard time connecting with Lucy but I didn't. She is your quintessential star teen: does extremely well in school, she competes on the swim team, has a perfectly mannered boyfriend, and gets along well with her parents, especially her mom who she actually likes. At first she does come across as judgmental and sheltered as she spends her summer at Daybreak, a camp for kids dealing with drama, at the request of her mother. At Daybreak, Lucy expands her world and her outlook at life. I really enjoyed watching Lucy grow and challenge herself as she meets a diverse cast of characters, including a trans girl and people of color. Lucy's problems and those of the Daybreak campers are dealt with sensitively and honestly without being heavy handed or preachy. Lucy begins to realize that the world isn't so simple in black and white, but there are lots of greys in between too. Along with Lucy's character development, she learns how to make friends, be vulnerable and open up with her feelings, and even allow romance to bloom. Throughout the story there are sprinkles of clues regarding Lucy's mother's mysterious past that come to a climax at the end of the story. While some of the connections are bit over-the-top and a bit melodramatic, it does emphasis how complex life is. All of the characters including the secondary characters are well written and though the ending is open and somber, we know that Lucy, with the help of her support group that she created, will be okay. The Names They Gave Us is a sweet story that occasionally dips into melodrama, but does tug at the heartstrings. Lord is quickly becoming one of my favorite realistic fiction writers and I continue to look forward to what she writes next.

This will go live on my blog on June 2. Kellyvision.wordpress.com


Lucy's life is perfect: she loves her parents, her faith is rock solid and her boyfriend is amazing. Except when her mom's cancer comes back, it all falls apart. Lukas wants to put things "on pause," and she's angry at God. And when she gets a summer job at a camp for troubled kids, she even loses her parents (physically; their relationship is still good).

This book is Emery Lord's best yet and that's saying something. Lucy is the most realistic girl I've met in ages. I completely understood her anger and the way she struggled to still believe in God.

The camp is one of my favorite settings ever. I love the other counselors and the campers. I would like a book about any of them, please.

I especially love the relationship between Lucy and her parents, who are just really excellent people. Having involved parents is starting to become more common in YA novels, and that makes me happy. And Lucy's parents are amazing.

I adored every page of this novel. Highly recommended.

When it comes to Emery Lord, I don’t even read the synopsis… I just know I want to read it. I’ve read every one of her books, and I’ve loved them all. She has this amazing ability to address very sensitive subjects in such a strong and respective manner. The Names They Gave Us was exactly that.

I have to admit that when I started reading, not knowing what this book was about, and I stumbled upon the fact that religion and cancer were going to be topics addressed in this story, I was a bit nervous. I often shy away from books with religion, and some cancer books are just a bit too much for me. But let me tell you, don’t let the words “faith” or “cancer” scare you at all in this one! Though Lucy struggling with her faith and a loved once suffering with cancer are very prominent topics in this story, they were handled beautifully and shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for those that usually shy away from those topics.

“For the first time in my life, I consider that I am being looked down on by no one, by nothing.”
In classic Emery style, there were highs, lows, and everything in between. So many swoony and outright adorable moments, mixed in with quite a few times where your feels will be hit hard. It’s always a bit of an emotional roller-coaster with Emery’s books, and that’s one of the things I love most about her. This is definitely one I would recommend for your summer reading lists!

I had to set this book aside. I lost my own mother unexpectedly to cancer last summer, so reading this brought back too many emotions. Perhaps I can visit this at a date further down the road, but for now, it is too painful for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book. Since I am not able to finish, I will not be rating or reviewing the title. Thank you.

This book gave me all the feels and it was just what I needed right now. I’ve heard amazing things about Emery Lord, but I’ve never read her, and I have to confess that I was hesitant about this book because of the religious themes. Not because I don’t like religion in my books exactly, but because I’m always very nervous that Christianity is going to end up being slammed—it feels to me like contemporary books from non-Christian publishers tend to be skewed toward the idea that Christians are generally judgmental and possibly a little evil, so….

But I LOVED the progressive view of Christianity that was given in this book. It reminds us that Christians are not necessarily narrow-minded and conservative. That we all have our own opinions and our own interpretations and, yes, even our own doubts. I was a bit afraid when Lucy was questioning her faith that the conclusion was going to be that she was holding on to something that wasn’t real or that it was just her parents’ faith or something—but the themes in this book are much more subtle and complex than that. It shows us how sometimes friends and family and even faith can be messy. How we can’t always know everyone’s story and how we can question who we are without losing who we are. I think it’s important for teens to hear these messages.

I’m focusing a lot on the Christian aspects of this book because that’s the part that impacted me the most, but there are LOTS of non-Christians who highly recommend the book as well. Just take a look at Goodreads and you’ll see that many people who were hesitant to pick up a “religious” book were won over in the end. The book is wonderful and heartbreaking and all sorts of amazing! I give it 5/5 Stars. And it’s a new All-Time Favorite!

Lucy's life changes on prom night when she inadvertently finds out that her mom's cancer is back. On top of that, she has to spend the summer as a counselor at a "hippie" camp that is very different from the comforting familiar Bible camp she has worked at in past summers. Lucy doesn't want to leave her mom while she is sick and she is dreading her new job but then she realizes that there is more to the camp than she thought and maybe it's exactly where she needs to be.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book with a Christian teen protagonist but I thought it worked. Lucy reminded me a little of myself as a teen as I grew up in an evangelical conservative Christian family. I also liked the portrayal of Lucy's struggle with her faith. I do think Lucy's parents were way more understanding and open minded than the adults around me during my teen years.

I was glad to see Lucy grow and change through her experience at Camp Daybreak. She was naive and a little judgmental (but not as judgmental as I thought she'd be) and I think being at this camp challenged her in many ways. I think it helped her to interact with kids from difficult home situations or who had many struggles in their young lives. Lucy becomes a more confident person and she is able to help the kids in her cabin.

There was a lot going on in this book. Aside from Lucy's story line there are also the various issues with some of the campers and Lucy's fellow counselors such as teen pregnancy, abuse and bullying. I did like the secondary characters, especially Anna who is a great new friend for Lucy. There is also some romance between Lucy and Jones, another counselor. Jones is a great guy and I liked how their relationship grew.

I did have a few small issues with the book. I felt like there wasn't closure at the end--I wanted to know what happened. Also I thought the big secret wasn't really wrapped up well because other things took precedence. Overall I liked this book. Emery Lord is one of my favorite YA contemporary authors. I like how her stories are about so much more than teen romance. It is story about faith and family and relationships. I also liked that the characters were more diverse and I loved the relationship Lucy has with her parents.

What can I say? This is a perfect book. The only criticism I can give is that it's over and I can't live in Lucy's world forever. The Names They Gave Us has moved into the top YA spot for me in the category of "thoughtful and sweet and fairly innocent but incredibly deep" (I read a LOT of YA as a school librarian, therefore have a LOT of categories!)

My rambling and parenthetical review:
I have never read a YA book (or really ANY book) that so perfectly captures the anguish of wrestling with faith without being actually about religion (disclaimer: I am NOT religious, but read a lot of YA that discusses religion, mostly Judaism, Islam or Christianity ). While Lucy's struggle to understand Christianity may be focused on a singular religion, it could be any of us struggling with any religion. How do you come to terms with a God who see in gray rather than black or white? How do you reconcile an upbringing of purity with a world that is anything but pure? Lucy's ponderings on these topics are ones I will return to for years to come as I (and family and friends) have to face the same thoughts and issues in our less-than-perfect lives.

In addition to the religion aspect of the story, Lord (excellent author name for this book!) creates a perfect picture of mother and daughter love that the majority of us can only look at and sigh, while wondering how WE can get that. To be honest, she does the same with many of Lucy's relationships, both platonic and romantic. Feelings are raw and real and exquisitely expressed.

Emery Lord is one of my new favorite YA authors, and her books should be required purchases for high school libraries.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this galley. Unfortunately, it was not a good read for me. I did not post my review on any sites. Please contact if you would like me to post a formal review.

The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord is one of those books that reminds me exactly why I 100% love to read contemporary books. This young adult book is an emotional, absorbing, spend all your time in the pages until you are done kind of read. To say I fell in love with Emery Lord’s latest release is kind of understating a fact. Friends, I could not recommend this book more highly.

It would seem that this is going to be the worst summer for Lucy Hansson, although she was expecting it to be the best summer ever. The book opens up with Lucy going to prom with her boyfriend, Lukas. While it is okay to begin with, a staff member at the school tells Lucy that she’s so sorry and Lucy is all like what?! So, she hurries home and as it turns out, her mother’s breast cancer has returned.

To make matters even worse, Lucy’s boyfriend has decided they need to go on a break which if you watch Friends you know is a terrible idea. Then, on top of that, Lucy’s parents insist she work at a different camp on the lake. Normally, Lucy works at the church camp that her parents own. This year, they insist she works at Daybreak camp. This is a camp for kids who have experienced or are experiencing trauma.

Lucy Hansson is what is known as a PK – pastor’s kid. So, as you would expect, she is kind of religious. Thankfully, I did not feel like I was beat over the head with it. It was just one aspect of her personality. In fact, she is pretty accepting which came as a surprise. For example, there is a counselor who is trans and she becomes one of Lucy’s closest friends. Also, Lucy runs a secret youtube makeup channel. In addition, she’s on the swim team. She just comes across as pretty cool contrary to my expectation of her. I really enjoyed reading this book and her perspective.

As I mentioned, one of the things that defines Lucy’s character is that she’s a pastor’s kid. In fact, faith is probably one of the biggest themes in Emery Lord’s The Names They Gave Us. Lucy is going through a crisis of faith. Prior to her mom’s cancer coming back, she used to pray and believe in God. She begs for her mother’s health. Lucy sees him as not responding and not caring, so she questions her religion. I felt like this was so interesting to read, as someone who has also questioned her faith and ultimately has gone in a more agnostic direction. Lucy may take a different path and have a different view than I do, but it was fascinating to see her journey. I think a lot of teenagers and college kids go through this and it’s great to see that actually portrayed in a book that also doesn’t preach at you.

Of course, there is also a romance in The Names They Gave Us which is right in my wheelhouse. Lucy starts off the summer kind of sad about Lukas. Then she meets this other counselor, Henry. There’s a definite attraction there. He’s a really good guy and he has his own baggage too. The two begin meeting at night – Lucy plays piano and he reads biographies. I really liked their chemistry and felt like it absolutely made sense and just worked. Plus, Henry is 100x better than Lukas.

There’s a ton that I am not covering in this review – like the camp dynamics and family dynamics and writing style. It is hard for me to convey just how much I loved this book. It’s beautifully written with a fantastic cast of characters. It is one of those books that compels you to keep going until the very end as the plotting is intricate and the reveals are worth sticking around for.

I knew I'd like this book before I even started it - it's an Emery Lord book, and I love all of her books so much. (Really, if you like contemporaries and you haven't read a book by her, what are you doing? Get on that. Also, follow her on Twitter.) What I definitely wasn't expecting was to get so attached to so many characters and to cry about five times. I LOVED it.

Let's talk about the biggest thing for me right off the bat: I tend to be really apprehensive about books that focus on faith and Christianity; a lot of the time, that's enough to get me to not read a book. I'm Jewish, and I grew up (and still live) in a pretty heavily Christian area. I've spent a lot of time surrounded by a certain type of lingering, preachy Christianity - sometimes people are being intentional, sometimes they aren't, but either way, the majority don't really care how other people might feel about it. It can get pretty uncomfortable (and I know I'm lucky that "uncomfortable" is the most severe word I can really use to describe it). Because of all that, I usually avoid books that discuss faith, because I think they'll feel the same way. But this is Emery Lord, and as I've said, I love everything she's ever written, so I couldn't not read it. As it turns out, I didn't have anything to worry about. Lucy's journey with her faith was absolutely non-preachy, and every part of it was handled so wonderfully.

This is definitely an emotional book. What makes it such a good emotional book, though, is that the sad moments are balanced out by the happy ones so that you feel so much of both. It made me cry, but it also made me laugh, and feel hopeful, and a million other things at the same time.

My favorite part of the book was probably the characters. Each and every major character gets their own time in the spotlight, and that makes you really care about all of them. They're all so complex, and so many of them get their own character development arcs, that I really felt that I was getting to know them throughout the course of the book.

Most of the things that I want to talk about are MAJOR spoilers, so I won't do so here. I'll just leave you with the fact that I literally can't think of anything bad to say about this book, and I highly recommend reading it.

THE NAMES THEY GAVE US, by Emery Lord, Bloomsbury USA Childrens, May 16, 2017, Hardcover, $17.99 (young adult)

After reading the first chapter of Emery Lord’s The Names They Gave Us I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stick with the book. But I give every book at least 40 pages before giving up. Turns out I’m glad I kept reading.

The Names They Gave Us opens with Lucy Hansson attending prom. Things leading up to this point haven’t been great, but Lucy finally feels like things are going her way. Her mom’s in remission for cancer, Lucy has a perfect boyfriend, and soon she’ll be working at her childhood Bible camp on the lake with her parents.

Except things aren’t really going Lucy’s way. Her mom’s cancer comes back with a vengeance, and Lucy begins to question her faith. Then her perfect boyfriend turns out to be not-so-perfect and puts their relationship on “pause” for the summer. To add insult to injury, Lucy’s mom wants her to work across the lake from Bible camp as a counselor for troubled kids.

Wanting to please her mother, Lucy reluctantly agrees to the job change. But facing her own troubles are hard enough, and Lucy doesn’t know if she can handle those of vulnerable children, too. As Lucy starts to accept her new normal, she finds she’s not really as alone as she thought.

When The Names They Gave Us opens, Lucy feels very one dimensional. She lives very much in her own little world, and her “religiousness” comes across very strong. Lucy is a pastor’s daughter, so this is to be expected. However, as that’s not what I read books for, I found myself skimming through some of it. It’s almost as if we’re looking in and viewing the “perfect pastor’s daughter.”

Lucy becomes much more interesting following her mother’s revelation. She gets mad. She questions her faith. She questions her boyfriend. She questions her parents. She stops accepting things at face value and starts to dig. She transforms from a one-dimensional stereotype to a multifaceted human being. As you follow Lucy, her foundation becomes stronger and you want her to succeed.

Emery Lord’s writing is easy and inviting. Her words are well chosen and crafted into meaningful sentences where shock value has no place. Lucy and her supporting cast are imperfectly likeable (most of the time) and worth getting to know.

The Names They Gave Us does not end like you would expect. Though there’s one plot twist I thought was a little contrived, I fully appreciated the choices Emery made in those final chapters.

The Names They Gave Us filled my heart with so many emotions over the course of its 400 pages. Both light-hearted and gut wrenching in turn, this is a novel that handily explores themes of grief, love (both familial and romantic), and friendship. There is a lot of honesty in this story; it pulls no punches and spares no feel. It's capable of making readers laugh and then cry, all within the same chapter. And while it is a longer contemporary at four hundred pages, this coming-of-age story is veteran YA author Emery Lord's best work yet and not a page of it feels wasted or unneeded. The Names They Gave Us is a heartfelt and finely-tuned story from a smart author; one that will linger long after the final page.

One strength of Lord's fourth book is that it is centered around a three-dimensional and engaging person: the fantastic and flawed main character Lucy. Her voice and inner monologue in The Names They Gave Us are immediately distinct and recognizably unique. Lucy is a well-rounded, imperfect, and interesting character from the start and she evolves and grows on a definite arc over the course of the book. It's easy to dismiss her as a "preacher's kid" from the outset but it soon becomes obvious that Lucy is more than a label and that she does a lot to earn the things she has. As a "PK" Lucy's also much more religious than a lot of YA characters, but she isn't close-minded because of it. Her faith is one both accepting and enlightening; while I don't share her beliefs, the author made it easy to slip into a life where that felt natural.

My heart was full to bursting after finishing this. Emery Lord has crafted something special with her newest novel. It was just... an honest and heartfelt exploration of teen life and love, in all its many forms and immediate feelings. Lord manages to keep to a great balance of sad and hopeful, humor and pain. Lucy shines in her trials and in her successes. The surrounding cast is real-world diverse and made of up great, inclusive characters that quickly endear and differentiate themselves. The Names They Gave Us boasts a cast of engaging characters, several strong plotlines, and two veeeery excellent ships - there's something in it for every kind of contemporary reader to enjoy.

I keep trying Emery Lord’s books because I hope that something will compare to The Start of Me and You (which I LOVED) but I’m starting to think that it’s never going to happen. Stephanie @Stephanie’s Book Reviews really hit the nail on the head in her review where she talks about feeling like Lord is just trying too hard. For me, I just felt like she was trying to cram in SO MANY ISSUES. First, we have Lucy who’s trying to reconcile her faith with all of the things that are going on in her life. Then we have her mom who has cancer. Then there’s also a transgender character and all of the stuff that comes out about Lucy’s family history…it’s just a little much. I wish that the author had maybe edited some of that stuff out. It was just a little overwhelming as a reader.

Lucy was okay as a protagonist but I had a really hard time with some elements of her character. For example, as I started this book I was super excited because I have been WAITING for an author to give us a portrayal of a normal Christian character outside of Christian Fiction. I really thought Lucy was going to be that character for me, but almost immediately she starts having this crisis of faith which is completely understandable for her situation, but wasn’t what I was hoping for. In addition, I felt like she was just kind of unrealistic? I feel that Christians get a bad rap a lot of the time for being “sheltered” or “naive”. Like, Lucy gets uncomfortable when people around her use Christ’s name in vain, but then she doesn’t blink an eye when a character comes out as transgender. That’s just not consistent! First of all, I don’t think that a normal Christian teenager is going to blink at somebody else saying “Jesus Christ” about something–I know I didn’t. It was just stuff like that…I don’t know. One positive about her, is that in the end I really did like her relationship with her parents.

The secondary characters were pretty good and mostly well developed. Everybody at Daybreak has a past and we get into that a little bit with Jones and Annabelle and others. The one thing I will say is that Jones seemed too good for Lucy and honestly kind of unrealistic. I know he had some stuff in his life that made him more mature than his age, but is any teenage boy really going to act like him? It honestly felt like he was closer to 25 than 17 or 18.

Overall, I thought this book was just okay. I didn’t dislike it as much as When We Collided but it’s nothing compared to The Start of Me and You. Some people have had an issue with the ending, but I’ll go on the record as saying that I didn’t hate it. It was definitely bittersweet, but that’s life, right? Some trigger warnings real quick: this book contains some mention of suicide, physical abuse, and bullying. Probably others too, but sorry those are the ones I can come up with right now.

Overall Rating: 3
Language: Moderate
Violence: Mild
Smoking/Drinking: Moderate. Some underage drinking.
Sexual Content: Moderate

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I think of Emery Lord books, I think of trying too hard.  Even though I’ve liked some of her other books (especially The Start of Me and You), I always feel like she just tries way too hard to be deep and meaningful. It comes across a little self-indulgent and melodramatic to me. While this book did have cute, funny, and even poignant moments, it still felt like it was trying too hard.

I felt like I should’ve found Lucy really relatable (pastor kids unite!), but I never fully connected with her. She was a mostly likable character, though. I mostly liked her group of friends at camp, though I wish they would’ve been developed just a bit more. I did really love Jones, Lucy’s new love interest. He was so sweet and I enjoyed pretty much every scene he was in. I also liked the camp setting and the kids there.

I have heard from people who are hesitant about this book because there is some religious content. If you are one of those people, I would say you might be slightly annoyed at times, but I don’t think it’s written in a way that will “ruin” the book for you. I have also heard from people who were very happy to see a “realistic” Christian character not be a complete psycho. To those people I would caution to not get too excited. Yes, the main character comes from a religious background and is not awful. However, this is NOT a Christian book and the overall message is not of Christian faith. There are definitely a few themes throughout that is congruent with the Christian faith, but at the end of the day the message is more one of universalism and the goodness of people. I mean, it’s still a hopeful message and is more than is in most YA, but I just want to caution my Christian friends.

Overall, The Names They Gave Us, was just ok for me. I felt like it was too long for what little was going on and a little repetitive and then it had a pretty abrupt ending. I did really enjoy Lucy and Jones’ slow burn romance, though. I think that Emery Lord fans will probably still enjoy it.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2.5 Stars

When summer hits, my “READ ALL THE CONTEMPORARY BOOKS” alarm goes off. From there I’m in the world of swoons, tears, laughter, and sometimes heartache. And when I want to read the most realistic and heart-fulfilling contemporary book, I always turn to the QUEEN OF CONTEMPORARY WRITERS, Emery Lord. Emery Lord is one of my favorite contemporary authors, at least in my top three, so suck it (Pam Beasley quote there, sorry, I had to do it). And once again Emery’s words have made my eyes water, my heart ache, and my soul feel like it needs a giant hug. So friends and fellow book lovers, I’m going to tell you this now, Emery Lord’s The Names They Gave Us is going to put you on an emotional, reading roller coaster but luckily there is the comfort of campfires and s’mores to warm up the pages.

One of my favorite parts about reading Emery’s books are how relatable her characters are. Once again she has created a main character, Lucy, who is realistically flawed and easy to connect with. Throughout The Names They Gave Us, Lucy questions her motives and choices when it comes to awkward, stressful, and guarded social situations. As the daughter of a preacher, she questions God but at the same feels shameful with her intentions. Although it’s heartbreaking to a see Lucy struggle throughout the pages, it is also reassuring to see a character encounter the unfair realities of life.

I don’t want to give too much away from this book’s plot, because I honestly think, everyone will come into this book with differing world views and then leave this book with a different emotional contemplation. The Names They Gave Us is not a “cancer” book, but the novel does bring in the emotional charge that comes with cancer: a brutal black hole that inevitably swallows up happiness and light. The solidity of cancer tests the main character’s willpower, her faith, her family, her friends, and her future. In The Names They Gave Us, cancer is the driving force that sets the main character on a new path: a path that brings her to a summer camp which helps her meet a diverse group of people, adapt to new beginnings, and a new perspective on life.

At camp, Lucy is able to “people watch,” ponder and observe past lives and choices, and contemplate her own future. Overall, this novel is an emotional package about self-discovery, forming meaningful friendships, and finding ways to emotionally cope and face difficult situations. In The Names They Gave Us, Emery writes with such raw passion and puts so much courage and sincerity in her characters; in the end, she has created a story about honesty, compassion, forgiveness, and fully living.

Absolutely beautiful. I would read this woman's grocery lists.