So this one is SUPER late for review because no matter how many times i tried, i just couldn't get into it 😕

I am so confused about what I just finished. I understand it was a galley but it just felt so disjointed. The flashbacks scenes were intermingled throughout the novel and at some points, it was jumping back and forth so my brain failed to comprehend the transition on multiple occasions

The only character I really felt for was Lee and I honestly can't say whether it's a me problem or the book. The MC started out great but my interest fizzled very quickly and I honestly can not put my finger on why.

While this one wasn't for me, I can definitely see why it would appeal to a large audience though

While I've loved Nina Lacour's other books, I still didn't have very high expectations for this. And I want to shake myself now, because what was I thinking?? Nina Lacour's writing has never disappointed me before, and it certainly hasn't this time around.

I don't want to give too much away about this book, but it's such an introspective, quiet, beautiful read. The writing is stunning and the plot is just... wow. Just so you know though, this book is about ghosts, but not in a way that's meant to scare you.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I'm not going to lie here, this book is heavy. With its exploration and twist on "being haunted," Watch Over Me delivers intrigue and dark contemporary designed to keep you on the edge of your seat. I reckon readers who loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart would enjoy this book too. I found lots of parts that were very much in the same vein and just as mysterious.

Watch Over Me follows the main character Mila as she takes up a new opportunity on a farm in the isolated part of the Northern California Coast. As she starts to get settled into the tranquility of the waves, the fog and the scent of the flowers, Mila discovers that the farm is haunted by ghosts, ghosts of the residents' past trauma they have escaped. More worryingly, Mila's own terrible memories are starting to resurface.

I found this book to be extremely clever with its poignant prose and strong focus on grief and loneliness. It was cleverly done and well written by maintaining its dark allure and contemporary heartbeat throughout the entire novel. I liked how the characters were written and loved delving into Mila's grim past as bit by bit we found out more about her. I really do think this book will attract both dark contemporary fans and Nina LaCour fans alike and I highly recommend it to such readers.

All in all, I loved this book and the underlying dark contemporary it turned out to be!

ACTUAL RAING: 3.7 STARS

My previous experience reading Nina LaCour came first from her collaborative writing on You Know Me Well with David Levithan and then reading We Are Okay, her previous release. Both have firmly put LaCour in the rare position on my bookshelves as an author whose work I will immediately read and devour at my earliest opportunity. So, when I got my hands on Watch Over Me, you can bet the first thing I did was curl up and open the cover.

The first thing to say about this novel is how hauntingly beautiful it is. Every word has gravity and subtlety and is woven together in a way that feels almost dreamlike. But this story isn’t a dream, rather an awakening for both reader and character into how our past can not only shape our future but construct our understanding of ourselves and each other.

When Mila arrives at the farm to help teach foster children like herself, she soon finds that each of them have ghosts, both literal and figurative. While trying to understand how to approach her young pupil Lee, Mila’s past keeps coming back to haunt her in little tokens left behind and the strange secrets that Terry and Julia, the adoptive parents, keep avoiding. And then there’s the ghosts that Mila sees, the ones that play in the fields at night and dance so brightly she can’t look too closely.

There are a lot of other reviews which talk about how LaCour writes loneliness, and perhaps this is her best example of how she can write it played alongside grief and guilt. Mila has been left alone in some way or another countless times in her life, and recognises parts of herself in her student Lee, striking up a tentative friendship with the nine-year old boy. She also slowly opens up to Liz and Billy, fellow teachers who have, like Mila, aged out of the foster system themselves, as well as Terry and Julia, creating a crack in the door to open towards a family of her own. The ghosts almost become characters in themselves, dancing along the edges of the narrative but not taking focus away until they step into their natural place in the story.

I think this is one book that when I spy it on the shelf, I’ll remember exactly what’s in the pages and feel that when I do take it down to revisit Mila’s story again, she’ll welcome me back into her world with more secrets to uncover. The word that still lingers on my fingertips for this book is haunting, and I don’t think there’s anything more appropriate to describe Watch Over Me at all.

Watch Over Me
Author: Nina LaCour
Genre: YA Contemporary/Magical Realism
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ • ✨ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

[Trigger Warning: child abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse, abandoment, drug addiciton, gaslighting, fire]

I have very mixed feelings about this book because it was a good book but I’m not sure how enjoyable I found it. LaCour can definitely write very atmospheric, mysterious settings and it left me wondering what was going to happen next. There were very vivid descriptions, which I am always glad of, and helped to further set the mood of the book. The flashbacks in the book really added to the storyline, and I think it would be easier to pick up on them if you’re reading the finished or physical copies. I flew through this book and finished it in two days, but this wasn’t entirely because I loved it but more because the writing style was so easy to read and I had more time than I had in the past weeks. The magical realism was done extremely well, and as not a big fantasy reader, I enjoyed that the genres were ever so softly blended. The characters, even Mila, felt a bit flat to me and I never really felt that I got to know who they truly were, especially the side characters. Even when I was learning their deepest, darkest secrets, I felt like I was watching the story unfold from far away. I would recommend this to people who want to read an atmospheric mystery book with magical realism.

Huge thanks to Netgalley, Text Publishing and of course Nina LaCour for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was set for the 29th of September 2020.

Watch Over Me is a unique tale that entangles ghosts and discovering yourself in a way I haven't seen done before.

It is raw and gritty and atmospheric.

Not really sure what to think about this one. It’s very atmospheric, the author does a great job of making it feel haunted but in a melancholic way instead of fearful

A modern day ghost story, but not the kind you’re expecting.

Until I received this ARC I had not read anything by NIna LaCour, now I am frantically trying to get my hands on everything she's ever written.

Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. When she’s offered a job and a place to stay at a farm on an isolated part of the Northern California Coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home, a real home.

The farm is a refuge, owned by a couple who rescue children from the foster care system and bring them to live, learn and heal on the farm before adopting them, giving them a forever family.

But what Mila doesn’t know is that the farm is also a haven for ghosts. Haunted by the past traumas its young residents have come to escape, the farm and its ghosts will begin to bring back disturbing memories from Mila’s past.

This book was WOW. An amazing novel about grief, loneliness and embracing the darkness in our history. It was very beautiful but also very creepy.

The storyline has such heartwarming moments, Bill and Liz, the adoptive parents feel like a comforting hug, Mila’s relationships with the children and other interns on the farm and her developing sense of family had me in tears more than once through the novel. But the omnipresence of the ghosts and the children at the farms underlying trauma brings an unsettling and spooky vibe to the whole novel making this story so unique and intriguing.

I love some magical realism and this book does it perfectly, my advice for reading this novel is just to go with the flow, believe everything, embrace it fully and lose yourself in the book to get the most out of this stunning novel. Oh and also have a box of tissues ready because this book packs an emotional punch.

This book was stunning, it was heart wrenching, it was moving and it delivered some amazing insights into healing from one's past. It was very deep for a YA novel and i'm not sure i would recommend it for young teenagers at all but anyone older i would recommend you do yourself and favour and pick up this novel. No one writes loneliness and grief quite like Nina LaCour.

I was so looking forward to reading a new Nina LaCour book and this was not at all what I was expecting it to be.
It was such an unexpected and sort of strange book. I enjoyed parts of it, but mostly it left me with a sense of unease while reading it, I was constantly waiting for something terrible to happen, and the whole thing was so- weird?
The characters were mostly well developed, Liz and Billy both felt a little- under cooked, and was that supposed to be leading into an almost polyamorous relationship, or am I reading into it a bit too much?

All in all, this was an unexpected and a bit strange, but well written and very character driven story about grief and loss and ghosts, I guess.

Mila has been through a lot, so when she moves to the farm ghosts appear and Mila must face her past.

Having not read any Nina LaCour before I didn't know what to expect however the cover of this book and the description drew me in from the first moment I saw it

LaCour writes so beautifully and her style of writing I found really atmospheric. I also enjoyed the back and forth timelines and found they really helped to make this an intriguing story of Mila's past and present.

Watch Over Me delves into trauma and facing what happened, whilst also coming to terms with it. This also had a nice little spooky element with the ghosts and secrets on the farm which was an interesting addition to the story and really kept it engaging.

I particularly enjoyed the start and middle of this book, however I was left feeling a little flat with the ending and really wanted more of Mila's story to feel satisfied.

I will definitely be reading more of Nina LaCour's writing in the future and thanks again to Text Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ARC

"it was difficult, when ghosts were everywhere, to figure out what was real and what was imagined"

Watch Over Me is the perfect autumnal, slightly spooky read for October. If you are looking for an atmospheric and haunting read, but not a fan of thrillers or horror- I would recommend giving this book a try. The best way I can describe it is quiet, slow and weird. If you enjoy your contemporaries like that, with a hint of magical realism, I think you will enjoy this much more than I did.

This was my first Nina LaCour, but this book definitely proved true her reputation for packing an emotional punch. There was an omnipresent feeling of sadness, loneliness and grief. I think I may just not have been prepared for the tone of the book, which is my fault.

The writing was well done, and the descriptions were vivid. However, I felt like that didn't translate to the characters. I felt like I never got to see into the characters' true personalities, only how they presented themselves. As a result, I wasn't particularly connected to them (with the exception Lee) and therefore the story as a whole. Most of the side characters felt 2D and interchangeable in my mind, which was disappointing considering how the premise meant they had potential to have interesting backstories and lives.

I also felt like I didn't get it. It felt like one of those artsy indie books or films that are filled with so many metaphors that you are left wondering if the whole thing was one metaphor and end up more confused than going in. I have seen a few early reviews of people really loving this book- and I am happy for them- but I just don't get it. I finished this and felt like I was missing something, or had read a different book to everyone else. I think upon reread I would enjoy it more, but I cannot foresee that happening anytime soon.

I'm not going to completely write off Nina LaCour, but I might just hold off and wait until a premise sounds more interesting to me. Overall, I found this book to be disappointing considering my pretty high expectations and mainly wanted more out of the story. However, if you like more emotional, ambiguous and quiet contemporaries- I would still recommend it!

★★☆☆☆.75 stars

Thank you to Text Publishing for this ARC

Release Date: 29 September 2020

Ghosts aren’t visible until they want to be seen.

Mila has just graduated from high school and after years in and out of the foster system she’s on her own again. I knew instantly there was something deep and dark about her past but I couldn’t quite pin point what happened.

We follow Mila as she packs what little belongings she has and relocated to a remote place on the coast where she’ll finally have a real home and family. The farm is a refuge for kids that have battled the foster system and don’t quite fit in.

The farm is haunted, Mila is warned early on but when her past is fighting to resurface Mila must face the ghosts of her past to finally be free.

Mila didn't know about the ghosts when she said yes. Yes to a new job. Yes to a family she didn't know was waiting for her. Yes to the secrets of her past coming back to haunt her.

Let me start of by saying I was not expecting the heart ache when I started this book. Watch Over Me is not your typical ghost story. It is a traumatic story of lonliness and healing and longing to find a place you belong.

While I did find this book slow to begin with it took only one paragraph to break my heart and I soon lost myself in the pages. Nina LaCour's writting style is flawless. There is something just so peaceful and serene about the way the words flowed.

The characters were all beautiful and broken in their own traumatic ways. Lee stole my heart. I want to hold this little boy tight and never let anyone hurt him again.

As the book was quite short I found that, apart from Mila and Lee, the character development was pretty limited. I would have loved to know more about Terry and Julia's and what lead them to make these decisions.

Watch Over Me was earie and hearbreaking and deserves so much love.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Text publishing for my copy of this ARC.

Watch Over Me is a 2020 contemporary ghost story about a young woman named Mila, who has just aged out of the American foster care system and takes on an internship at a farm in an isolated part of the Northern California Coast. Mila believes that this place could become a real home to her and its inhabitants to become her family. I finished the book not too long ago and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about it. I didn’t connect to the first half at all and found in the second half of the novel that I was starting too, but then it was over. This isn’t the type of ghost story I’ve seen much of in literature. I don’t exactly know how they work here, but everyone knows about them, not everyone can see them, and they seemingly only exist where the broken people are.

The aspect of this book that stood out the most to me was the themes of loneliness and longing. The book opens with a newly graduated Mila accepting an opportunity to teach foster children. Like the children she’ll be teaching, she’s also a foster child except now she has aged out of the foster system. Mila’s past is filled with traumatic events, such as the death of her grandparents, her stepfather dying in a house fire, and her mother’s eventual abandonment not long after. All of this has left her with abandonment issues and emotional distress. What she’s hoping to find at this farm is essentially a found family, and she sort of gets it. I’m not entirely sure what happened. There is a slight surrealism in this narrative, but it wasn’t expanded on or interwoven in a way that really pulls you into the story.

“I hope you aren’t afraid of ghosts.”

I thought the writing was lovely. LaCour’s prose is definitely a strong point of this book. I think the writing style did appeal to my emotions, especially the moments when Mila mulls over loneliness and what it means. It definitely started connecting with me in the end, but I still had to get through the first half that I barely remember and the characters were not distinct enough for me and I kept confusing them all, aside from Mila and Lee. It’s not a bad book, but I don’t think it fully reached its ambition.

I think maybe if I reread this one day I could most definitely find an appreciation for it.

I can honestly say that it has been a hot minute since I have read an entire book in one day. But from the moment I started Watch Over Me I knew that that was all I was going to do with my day.

And it was so well worth it.

My heart ached for Mila, even before I knew what happened to her.

We start off the story with Mila going to a place called the farm (as someone who watches Riverdale, I was apprehensive to say the least). A couple – Terry and Julia have adopted multiple children, all whom have come to them as foster children to start with.

Mila wasn’t lucky enough to be placed with them when she was put into the foster care system, but she starts an internship as a teacher to the sole nine year old boy.

The relationship between Mila and her student, Lee, was so sweet and so tender. I wanted to hug both of them.

People who go to the farm are all broken in some way, and the broken part of me could relate to it so easily. My heart hurt whenever I heard of the trauma that either Mila or Lee, or any of the other characters, had suffered.

I saw someone say that no one writes suffering like Nina LaCour, and I have to say – I completely agree.

I don’t want to spoil the book, of course, as it isn’t published here in Australia yet, but gosh this book. This book! It was so beautifully written. It had a subtle poetic vibe about it, which I appreciated.

By the end of the book, I was crying. My emotions were all over the place and I just wanted to hug each and every single character in this book.

I highly, highly recommend this book. It is a little eerie in places – and it will be an easy, perfect read for the upcoming October “spooky” season. Which is perfect as it is out here soon! And if you’re in America/international, it came out on the 15th of September.

Content Warning: Death, grief, ghosts.

Watch Over Me follows a recently graduated high school student called Mila, who has grown up in the foster care system. She receives an opportunity to move to a remote farm, and teach children there while being provided housing and meals. At the farm, she is confronted by the ghosts of her past, and paranormal entities as well.

Nina LaCour has a captivating writing style, that really makes you feel the atmosphere she's writing about. Her writing was one of the main parts of this book I enjoyed, and felt like it was one of the strongest points. It was almost as if you could feel the chill of the air, or smell the food coming from the farmhouse as the character's were cooking it. It was a lovely thing to read!

However, plot wise, it didn't really make sense. I struggled to follow along with the events of the novel, and felt that some of the plot points weren't explained well enough for them to make sense. Nothing really happened in this book, which is a shame, because LaCour's writing style is so lovely. I would've loved this book more if the plot had a bit more to it, or was stretched out just a bit longer in order to make the readers care. I spent a large majority of this book being confused about the events in it.

That being said, the characters were enjoyable to read about. They felt like a natural fit to Mila's character arc, and the found family aspect of this book was one of the best parts. Ultimately, I don't think I was the right audience for this book, however, I can see why so many people have given it rave reviews.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mila having aged out of the foster care system accepts a job living at a remote farm in which she is faced with ghosts and her past she has been trying to escape from.

The cover of this book is incredible, it is stunningly beautiful and so is the book itself.

I’m not going to lie I was confused for the majority of this book, I went into it pretty blind so it took me a while to figure out what was going on. It had quite an eerie aura to it, the farm and the way it was described felt very dark and really creepy. For a while, it almost gave me the sense that something sinister was happening, from the ghosts to the strange way everyone acted sometimes. But this book is about healing and about feeling like you belong and allowing yourself to believe you deserve to heal and belong.

The writing as absolutely stunning the way Nina LaCour weaves words together was hauntingly beautiful, the way in which she described things particularly the ghosts had such an ethereal quality to it.
It was honestly worth it to feel confused for a lot of the book because when everything came together, and you understand what is going it was incredible. The ending was so beautiful and I was sobbing.

This book is so so good and Nina LaCour is amazing, end of story.

“I hope you aren’t afraid of ghosts”

Mila has just aged out of foster care and been offered an internship teaching children. She will live and work with her employers, Terry and Julia, on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

“Everything was beautiful and nothing was perfect, and I didn’t know how I could have been chosen to be there.”

Mila is searching for a place to call home and desperately wants to keep the past in the past. No one told her about the ghosts, though.

I flew through this book. Granted, it was short but I don’t remember the last time I finished a novel in under a day. For months now my attention span has been appropriately equivalent to that of a fruit fly.

“People need to know where they fit in in the world.”

I didn’t have to work to get into Mila’s story and it was easy to lose myself in it. I loved imagining the flowers, the fog and the walk to the beach. For a while I wondered if the farm was going to turn out to be a cult because the atmosphere was so intoxicating; my wanting it to be a safe place warred with my suspicion that it was all too good to be true.

Because this book is so short there wasn’t a lot of time spent on developing the characters. I wanted to find out more about Terry and Julia’s backgrounds and I didn’t get much of a sense of Liz and Billy’s personalities. I found most of the children fairly interchangeable, although I adored Lee and would like to formally register my interest in adopting him.

I spent much of this book thinking about the hold memories can have over us and how daunting it can be to face our fears. Although Mila feels shame about the past, she is also resilient. The wounds of the past continue to haunt her but she is still able to care deeply about people. I always love found family stories and was keen for Mila to find the acceptance and sense of belonging she’s craved for so long.

“I wish I could be one of you”

Content warnings include mention of abandonment, drug addiction and gaslighting.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.