Gritty. Raw. Intense. Come As You Are is a compelling family drama that takes us from Seattle to Los Angeles to New Mexico as we follow the tangled lives of Skyler and Zane. Best friends as teenagers, their lives become more complex when they become parents, then spiral as Zane succumbs to addiction. Their lives are a series of connections and disconnections, always haunted by their pasts, their mistakes, and tragedy. There are many twists and turns in this novel, as they hurt and heal, suffer and recover, love and hate, punish and forgive.

My hopes were high for this book, as I thought it would be a nostalgic trip back to the 90's, being a student and discovering grunge - yep, I'm from that generation. Alas, apart from the nice nostalgic vibe, there was very little that could draw me in.

First the good: the writing style is beautiful and Jennifer Haupt can craft a story, that is for sure. The settings were vivid and I was really in the scenes, whether on a underground club in Seattle, or on the beach of Belize, so kudos for that. The only problem that appeared now and then was that there was some spatial discrepancies where characters seem to jump from one place to another in the same sentence.

However, the characters were terrible. I don't mind a good villain in a story, but here all characters but one are just complete wrecks, making all the terrible and bad decisions one can make. There is Skye who thinks the best thing she can do when discovering she is pregnant is to run away from home and her support system. Then Zane, who impregnates every girl he meets and then thinks the best way to treat his migraines is to take heroin. Skyes mother who is the worst meddler I have ever encountered, real life or in books, unless it is for the benefit of her own daughter, then she stays silent and chooses the comfortable side of her husband. Again, nothing wrong with flawed characters, but when every one of them is dragging a child in its destructive wake, I really couldn't feel a thing for them except wishing they would just for once keep the interest of their child at heart instead of continuing making selfish choices. When a the end, everything turns out for the best, it felt more like a fairytale than a credible story. The only character that made sense - and had any sense - was Aaron, who of course gets hurt the most.

I know I'm in the minority here, and this book might just be perfect for you, so I really encourage you to read the raving reviews.

A sincere thanks to Central Avenue Publishing, the author and NetGalley for and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Haupt has captured something really special in Come As You Are. While the title reference to Nirvana may drive many readers in, I think maybe the lyrics to Liz Phair's Divorce Song might be more fitting:

"That it's harder to be friends than lovers
And you shouldn't try to mix the two
'Cause if you do it and you're still unhappy
Then you know that the problem is you"

Skye and Zane are best friends. All they want to do is leave Seattle and move to LA so Zane can make it as a rock star and Skye can be an artist. Ten years later, Skye lives in New Mexico with their daughter and they no longer keep in touch.

The switch of timelines - between the past and 'present' - to when they were kids to now as adults - to navigating the future to navigating reconnecting and being parents, it's heavy. This book is more emotional that I expected and I really appreciated that it was. I loved the small glimpses and hints of Seattle in the 90s, at the cusp of the grunge explosion....without being too gossipy or cheesy. The emotion behind the friendship turned relationship between Zane and Skye was easily felt with each passing chapter. It was obvious that they loved each other from the beginning and will to the end - and sometimes, that love between friends is deeper than anything else.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

‘Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive’
– Sir Walter Scott

Set in Seattle in the 90’s as this begins, this brought back memories of flannel shirts and combat boots, teens sharing their angst through their attire like ‘strategically ripped fishnets’ and the music they listened to - Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, to name a few. A far cry from the 50’s mid-calf poodle skirts with white anklets and shirts with peter pan collars for girls, and boys who dressed like younger versions of their fathers, and Elvis - who was once thought to be obscene by parents and swoon-worthy to teen girls. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

This story revolves around Skye and Zane who meet when she is twelve, and he is fourteen. These two lonely souls bond over a love of music, and a shared dream of one day living in Los Angeles. Zane wants to be there for the music, and Skye wants to be an artist. Theirs is a somewhat convoluted take on the standard ‘boy meets girl’ story, both displaying a social uneasiness around others, both are social misfits, but find comfort with each other. Skye’s older sister is against their relationship, and when an accident happens, it changes everything, it changes everyone. Friends become lovers, and a pregnancy follows.

This is a love story, a story of young love, of a mother’s love for her child, of love lost and found. A story of life and the complications that come with living, secrets withheld, and a mother who struggles with making the right decision for them all.

A story of love, hope and forgiveness.


Pub Date: 01 Mar 2022

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Central Avenue Publishing

The Beatles Were Wrong – Love Is Not All You Need

Zane and Skye are two teenagers who are best friends, struggling with the typical teenage angst, stuck in bodies that are waiting to be fast forwarded into the future, hearts filled with big dreams. However, after experiencing a tragedy, the two end up taking comfort in each other and facing an unexpected pregnancy. Now, ten years later, Skye and Zane are facing each other again.

Come As You Are was an emotional roller coaster that had amazing character development and perfectly conveyed complex relationships, characters who were trying to chase dreams, characters who were trying to establish boundaries while still being open to love, characters who failed again and again. This book showed what “happily ever after” really looks like, and it felt real.

This book tackles an extremely important topic: Sometimes love isn’t enough. Some partners have very severe drug or gambling problems. Partner A might want to get married, have kids, have pets, and own a cute little house just outside of town while Partner B never wants to get married, never wants to have kids, hates pets, and only wants to live in a big chaotic house filled with roommates. These partners might have an incredible connection. They might see each other and connect spiritually. Their names might be etched onto each other’s souls. But the relationship is doomed to fail in the long run. It might be really fun to hang out with someone, but it is another to build a life with someone, making ends meet, compromising, putting in the day-to-day work.

There was only one thing that I would change about this book. Come As You Are was told with shifting timelines, providing glimpses of the history between the characters. However, the very beginning of the book involved the death of three major characters so it started off in a somber mood. Personally, I think it would have been better if the book had been told in chronological order.

Overall, this is the love story of 2022. Hopefully, this will be picked up for a movie.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Central Avenue Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

If you liked grunge, Nirvana, the 90s, you’ll enjoy this spectacular read. Complicated, flawed characters highlight this coming of age novel. Are we doing our best alone, together? Tragedy is messy and flawed. How do you become your best self?

This was an enjoyable coming of age/family drama, set in a particular time and place that was familiar to me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Come As You Are is the story of Zane and Skye whose lives have been woven together since their childhoods. The story is set in Seattle and Albuquerque and switches between the past and present and from each of their viewpoints. The 90's grunge scene features heavily in the story. After they experience a tragedy, they are further bonded. Their relationship faces some serious challenges. We see them come back together as young adults for their daughter. There are many ups and downs and some twists in the story as Zane and Skye try to figure things out. The ending wasn't what I expected but I enjoyed the book from the beginning to the end. I would recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the ARC!

Such an enjoyable read! Jennifer Haupt created such interesting characters in Skye and Zane. Watching them grow up together and their relationship change due to a mysterious tragedy followed by their personal struggles to deal with the tragedy was fascinating to me. We have all made decisions in our lives that we look back on and question what may have happened if…
This story was written so beautifully through the eyes and hearts of Skye and Zane. I so appreciated the ending…simple and extremely effective. Montana is most endearing and seeing her world through her young eyes made me feel - frustration, anger, hope, love, and finally independence. The setting, during the 90’s grunge movement, and additional music background and Zane’s love for Kurt Cobain, added another layer of interest to the evolving story.
Sometimes a book has that special essence and power to make you feel and this read truly delivers. Many many thanks to Jennifer Haupt, Central Avenue Publishing, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this soon to be published gem.

I love the 90s, the vibe, the grunge music (hence the book title)! Written in dual timelines in Seattle and New Mexico, I thought the transitions were a bit confusing. Flawed characters and fond memories are just a few things I enjoyed about this book. If you loved the decade, you'll enjoy this flash back. If you don't know what grunge is then this may fall flat for you.

4 1/2

I got a pretty good kick out of this book. Considering to this day, I'm 44 and still look at Pearl Jam as the greatest band ever, And that particular musical era is near and dear to my heart.
I got pretty involved with this book. I like seeing writers take chances like this.

The writing style really catches the time this takes place.
Very enjoyable overall, and a nostalgic feel.
Great representation of young people bonding over the love of music to get past tragedies.
.

If you’re a lover of Nirvana and the Seattle grunge scene, you’ll like this one. There is a really good story as well, but the mentions and setting of the grunge scene hit it out of the park for me. The characters were very well developed and I really liked them all and watching them grow. There’s a good coming of age story as we go through different decades with the characters. It was sentimental and heart-felt, but also gritty at times.

This was an enjoyable coming of age novel. I wasn't completely drawn in, but it moved along at a fair pace.

Well written, engaging and great character development. I loved the unfinished business aspect of this story and how both Skye and Zane had to separately work through their own traumas and mistakes before they could become strong parents for Montana. At times it did feel a bit drawn out but overall a good read with a great setting.

Skye Albright leaves her house and leaves her mom a note. She has only 250 dollars in her pocket. Her sister has died and her mom and father are grieving. Skye becomes pregnant and she doesn’t want to cause any more grief for her parents. Skye left because she felt so disconnected from everyone. She needed to figure out who she was without her sister or anyone.

Oh, how this book made me want to grab a comfy worn-out flannel shirt and a pair of Doc Martins, Come As You Are, the new book by Jennifer Haupt has the 90s vibe turned on full force, and I was there for it all!

Naturally, the book's setting for this adventure is Seattle, at least the past parts are, I mean, we all know that is where the grunge scene started so titling a book Come As You Are- one of the most popular Nirvana songs whom most people will tell you was the start of the whole grunge scene, could not possibly have taken place anywhere else.

The story is told in a dual timeline- focusing on Skye and Zane, who meet at a young age 12 and 14 if I remember correctly. Both of them bond over being loners, and they find solace in each other. They become best friends and share the dream of graduating and moving to LA where Zane would be part of the music scene and Skye the art world. As we all know dreams and plans rarely go as hoped and a rare moment of togetherness for these two results in pregnancy for Skye.

Jennifer Haupt has written a beautiful family drama that is gritty and raw, while also giving us the cultural references of the 90s, especially musically. From Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street to the thermal underwear we wore under our ripped-up jeans and of course Nirvana, Haupt throws you right back into the nostalgia.

Both Zane and Skye are memorable and likable characters. Haupt gave them realistic flaws and did not spare them any difficult situations, instead, she put them and the reader in the middle of them. You will root for both of them throughout.

Come As You Are is a great book, especially for those whose lives were shaped by this time period. It is a very character-driven book, which I loved. It honestly is the most perfect book for anyone, but especially so for those of us who loved the grunge scene, Haupt transports us back there with ease.

One of my fav authors, whose latest brilliantly captures the Seattle grunge scene and two troubled teens who reflect the angst of the era. If you adore deftly written tales and coming of age stories, you will love this book! Out March 1.


Thanks to Jennifer, Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

#ComeAsYourAre #NetGalley

The following review will be posted on Sunday, February 27th, two days before publication. It will be shared on Twitter and Instagram between that Sunday, and the publication date (Tuesday, March 1st), but the review has already been posted on Goodreads. The blog post includes links to pre-order the books and to its Goodreads page, so readers can add it to their to-be-read books.


“It occurs to Skye now, listening to her mom’s eulogy, that forgiveness is the difference between the way a wife loves her husband and a child craves love from a parent.”

Genre: Fiction
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses death and descriptions of panic attacks.

“Come As You Are” follows Skye and Zane, two childhood best friends turned lovers, through the decades that brought them together and tore them apart. Told mostly from Skye’s point of view, and following various timelines, this is a story about how loss and distance can mend and break relationships.

Expertly written, you truly are transported through the years, from 1987 to 2002 (and a 2013 epilogue), in a grunge-y scene worthy of the reference its title suggests. Jennifer Haupt made a wonderful job with her jumping timelines, slowly revealing things to the reader, building up curiosity and suspense around what happened in the past and what the future could hold.

I grew fond of all the characters, even the ones we were encouraged to dislike. They were complex, well-defined, and consistent throughout the book. I really felt like I got to know them, close and personal. If anything, I wish there would’ve been more. I would’ve liked to see more into the future, but the ending was a true testament that most times history repeats itself.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories with alternating timelines (think like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). Also, I would encourage anyone fond of the 1990s rock-grunge vibe to grab this book. It’s a unique story told through clever means, it’ll be worth your time.

If you click here, you’ll be redirected to Goodreads, so you can add the book to your TBR list.

Or you could click here, and be redirected to Amazon, so you can pre-order the book.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

COME AS YOU ARE explores the lives of Skyler and Zane, "best buds for life" until friendship grows into something more, something they might be too young to handle. The novel explores what happens to children who lose a family member, how guilt and shame can rule our lives and how we can emerge whole on the other side. Haupt gives us wonderful, fully-developed, flawed characters. I grew to love each of them and became totally immersed in their lives as I rooted for them (although there were time when I didn't know what outcome I was rooting for). Just a fantastic read!

I loved the 90s and Nirvana so I was super excited to read this one. I really enjoyed it. It’s real, it’s about parenting, love and growing up. Really enjoyed the flashback to the 90s.