I didn't really know what to expect from this book, but I ended up really loving the themes present and where the story went by the end. I found the first half to be a bit boring, and wasn't nearly as interested in life on the farm/teaching the kids as I was about finding out what the ghosts were and what they meant, as well as learning more about Mila's past.

But the last half had me on the edge of my seat, and I ended up reading it in a single sitting because I had to know what was going to happen next. While this was a sad, haunting read, I loved the hopeful note the book ended on. Overall, this was such a different book from what I'm used to reading, and I'm really glad I picked it up!

nina always impresses with her almost lyrical writing while addressing real issues. i have been a fan since everything leads to you and have yet to be disappointed

Beautifully haunting and vivid, as LaCour's writing always is. Another book from her that I will carry with me. Full review in 2020 favourites video.

A haunting eulogy to the grieving of loss innocence that abuse victims can feel in their adulthood, Nina LaCour's WATCH OVER ME hits you in every emotion-bearing organ possible.

I’ve never read The Turn of the Screw, but this was extremely enjoyable. So many emotions reading it. A journey of ghosts and trauma to remember.

WOW! This book was fantastic. I am a huge fan of Nina LaCour's writing, and just as I had predicted, the writing in this book was beautiful. I also loved the characters, as I felt emotionally attached to them and genuinely cared about them while reading this book.

I'm not going to lie, this book freaked me out a bit. I'm easily scared by really anything and this managed to do it. I think this book is best suited to those who are not babies such as I, but overall I really enjoyed it. It was a pretty fast read, but it packed a punch. It dealt with a lot of deep and emotional topics, but I think it handled them beautifully. There was an overall theme of healing and growth that I loved to see, and think it really lightened the book at times. This had the option of becoming a very dark book, but that aspect of people that need each other banding together and growing together really made it enjoyable. I think it was a great book, just maybe better suited for someone else:)

Nina LaCour's lyrical writing takes us through a, extremely delicate experience with such grace, passion, and fearlessness. This was a pleasure to read.

Thanks to Penguin Teen for gifting me this book. It was small and mighty. I still don't have a lot of experience with magical realism, but if they were all done like this, if would be a favorite genre. I loved the interpretation of the ghosts, and what they signified. I really love Nina Lacours books!

Watch Over Me
By Nina LaCour

A remarkable, motional, and heart wrenching YA story with great characters and fantastic haunting story line I enjoyed reading.

Mila has finally graduated high school and at 19 is out of the foster care system. looking for a fresh start, she accepts a position in an isolated farm in the coast of Northern California where besides being a refuge, is also a place where the past will haunt and live through past traumas and memories.

This was an unusual read full of emotional triggers, yet beautiful and so immersive that will have you turning those pages in this quick read gem of a book. Overall, this was a book that touched upon the themes of grief, resiliency and with beautifully complex characters that I loved reading about.

Going into Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour, I didn't know what to expect. The blurb doesn't give much away about the plot, so I went in pretty blind. Immediately, I was pulled in. The writing style made me feel like I was watching a movie and I knocked out half of the book before bed one night. It was a fast paced read that kept you on your toes and led you to wanting to know more. Mila's past is shrouded in secrecy and the flash backs leave you eager to find out what happened. The farm Mila gets a job on is surrounded in its own mystery as well. Ghosts roam the property and interact with the tenants. As the story progresses, you know that something is inevitability going to happen between Mila and the ghosts, but you are kept waiting until the end for the big reveal. Overall, the book was very entertaining and was written in a way that made you want to keep reading. Would recommend.

LaCour's prose is beautiful and she writes a wonderful story. I am so happy that I loved this as much as WE ARE OKAY. This was an instant order for my school library.

Wow! Just finished this beautiful book and I loved it. After high school graduation Mila takes a teaching job at a farm with a foster family where she must face fears, grief, and ghosts.

Grief, abuse, loneliness, abandonment, insecurity and hope are all dealt with in this ghost story that effectively makes the reader feel on edge and apart. This literary fiction book by LaCour is an immersive dive into the empty void remaining after Mila ages out of foster care. I genuinely became attached to reading this book, but don't feel it is appropriate for my middle school audience due to the pretty candid sexual scene(s).

I really wanted to like this. I loved the cover, I loved the title, but the book was so slow. I tried to think of how to summarize it for my students, and it was really a hard sell. I know that Nina Lacour has devoted fans, but this book missed the mark for me.

An unusual story that felt like it should be a horror story, but never crossed the line. After graduating from high school and the foster system, Mila takes a position as a tutor at a farm for foster children. She forms a special bond with her young charge Lee as she helps him begin to learn and grow, but there are mysterious ghosts in the fields at night that evoke some buried memories in Mila. There is some mystery about the owners of the farm that for me hinted at a more sinister mission, so I found the ending somewhat unexpected because I was expecting a Bad Thing to happen. Instead, the ending has a warm satisfied feeling, leaving the reader wishing to spend more time at the farm.

Nina LaCour's writing is brilliant, she absolutely blew me away with this read. The way LaCour creates these deep and beautiful characters and lets the audience step into their head amazes me. LaCour packs such an emotional punch with this story and I cannot wait to read more of her books.

Nina LaCour's Watch Over Me is exquisite. The setting is so atmospheric and moody, a perfect match for Mila's deep longing for family. Mila's desire to belong and what the farm asks of her are so woven together that there's no escaping the very thing she wants to put behind her. I was so impressed with main character's deep tie to the setting that I used this book as an example for a creative writing exercise with my students.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour was one of my favorite books I read this year, and I was so excited when I saw that she was coming out with another book.

I didn’t know that much about it before reading other than that it had some spooky elements, and I wasn’t expecting ghosts to play such a major role in the book and found that really interesting!

Nina LaCour’s simplistic writing style worked really well in this book and with the atmosphere of the ghosts and the rest of the story. The writing added a lot to the haunting feeling of the book.

I enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to read more books by Nina LaCour!

CW: Abuse

This is a quiet and well told story about grief, trauma, wanting to belong and to be loved that I enjoyed very much. I thought the writing was gorgeous and the ghosts added an unexpected element that I really liked. At times it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't, but it was done in a way that added to the atmosphere rather than making me feel confused.

Mila was an interesting character to read from and I really liked her voice. Her relationship with Lee put me off at first, but there were cute moments and I appreciated how their relationship specifically wrapped up at the end. The other side characters were fine, but none really jumped off the page for me. I would've liked to see a bit more of Terry and Julia as parental figures as the interaction we saw from them was good, but it just didn't feel like enough.

I also tend to dislike when a character knows that something is being hidden from them and in this case all the characters knew that she knew and how upsetting it was for her to be kept in the dark, but they still refused to tell her for... no reason? I couldn't really understand why they wouldn't tell her and that was frustrating.

I really appreciated the haunting atmosphere and how that added to dealing with Mila's flashbacks of the abuse she endured. I also appreciated how the book dealt with emotional abuse and how that can effect people.

Overall this was a really interesting exploration of grief and abuse. I really liked the main character, the writing, and atmosphere of the book and I'd recommend it.