Underneath the Sycamore Tree is an emotional, heartbreaking story that will break and mend your heart to break it again. It is written beautiful and it journeys into some dark parts of life but it make it all more worth it.

Omg I love love love Emery and Kaiden! My heart was pulled out my chest and stomped on and left there…sigh… it’s such a beautiful story. Please go and read it!
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC

This book was a stunning and real picture of what living with a chronic illness can be. It absolutely devastated and destroyed me, but I am so glad I picked this up. I hope everyone gets a chance to read Emery's story and learn more about the effects of chronic illness.

Emery is living life with an invisible chronic disease. While it's not obvious that she's sick to everyone, she spends almost every day in pain, just fighting to make it through. This disease is the same one that killed her twin sister and tore her family apart. While this story is ultimately the story of her disease, it is also the story of grief and healing and forgiveness as she works to move on from her sister's death learn to live. Often with the help of the very cute and mysterious boy named Kaiden.

This story was both heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. I fell in love with Emery and Kaiden. I truly believed they could be okay, they could work it out. I loved being able to see them both bring out the best in each other and learn to live after grief. I knew where this story would likely end, but I was as swept up in their romance as they were. I began to hope in a happy ending. Despite my hope and my heart being completely destroyed at the end, I'm actually really glad that the author didn't give us a happy ending. So many individuals with chronic illnesses don't get the happy endings they deserve. Many stories end exactly as Emery's did. Undeserving lives are cut short. It wouldn't have been right to paint over that painful truth with a fake happily ever after. Even if it did leave me sobbing for an hour after finishing the book.

I know that I will be reading this book again and again. Emery and Kaiden's story is one that I will remember for a long time. I can't thank the author enough for sharing such a beautiful and painful story with the world. I hope everyone gets the chance to read and reflect on it some day.

I received a free copy of Underneath the Sycamore Tree, by B. Celeste, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I found this book to be way too depressing. Emery is living with a disease, a disease which has already taken her twin sister. I did not like Kaiden at all.

This book broke me in all the best ways. I was an emotional mess, I loved emery and how she came into herself. At times I just wanted to hug her. Amazing read!

"We never truly get over losses. We just absorb them until they mold us into someone new. Like any creation, it takes time."

When I first read the synopsis I immediately thought of Five Feet Apart with extra twists. The story of Emery is heartbreaking and amazing all at the same time. I love Emery and honestly rooted for her the entire book. She deserves so much better than what she was handed. I wanted to grab her and hug her in every chapter of this book.

Kaiden pissed me off a lot. He's a smug asshole and thinks everyone should bow down to him - it doesn't help that most people do. I am glad that he was always there for Emery, though.

Underneath the Sycamore Tree brought to life so many real life situations - showing that life isn't like it's described in books. I loved that this didn't fall under the same story line as other stepbrother romances.

The emotions that I felt while reading about Emery's life, loss, sickness.. I can't even describe it. You just need to read it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC.

I loved this book! I'd previously read it when it was indie published, and it was so great revisiting the story once more in a different format. I will definitely be buying the new edition when it comes out soon! Please go read this touching novel!

This book was the emotional, angsty book that I needed to get out of my rut. One of the things I hate is when an author sugar coats an illness, or comes up with some amazing unrealistic cure. B Celeste did not do either of those things. Em’s mom is portrayed in negative light, but also very realistic. Everything was more than she could handle. I absolutely loved every word, and most of the characters (I couldn’t stand her mom). Beautiful book.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

SPOILERS IN REVIEW

There is so much to unpack here. I loved this book with every bit of my body and soul. Being a #lupuswarrior myself, I was hesitant on how it would be interpreted in the story. I shouldn't have been. This is one of the first books I have read that adequately expressed "invisible illnesses" for what they are: fighting for your life. I was a little frustrated by the odd implantation throughout of sterile medical facts. It did pull me away from the story a few times and I needed to reconnect. I understand why the author choose to input them but it would've helped the flow of keeping me attached if the author had chosen to maybe include them as notes in the back of the book for people to research if they felt like it. I loved seeing the character growth in Emery. I feel like she started as a "mouse" but quickly grew into a character that was relatable and strong. There was a slightly large number of important characters and I thought it could become overwhelming but I am awed by how it not only was easy to follow but how much I connected with every single one of them. If you have read the book, you will notice I avoided mentioning what is probably considered the most important relationship and one of the MC. I did that on purpose because if you HAVE NOT read the story, anything I say will spoil it and it deserves to be given an unbiased thought. If you have read B. Celeste before, this book is not her usual stories but I believe it is her best. I'm jealous that others will be experiencing this story for the first time and wish I could read it again...unfortunately my heart is destroyed at the moment but this will be a book I will read again and again. I will post a few TW for those that may have them but they will be massive spoilers so read at your own peril:


Death of sibling/parent, CONSENSUAL sex with a person who could be considered family/taboo by some people, parent/child toxic relationships, non conventional HEA.

The Prologue hurt my heart, I knew the rest of the book would destroy me from there. My heart breaks for Em. First I will say it would be easier to follow if chapter titles said what the gap in timeline is. That is really my only criticism of this fantastic book. When I tell you I sobbed ugly tears I mean it was a rough go. You can't help but love Emery, she is a great character who makes you feel all the feels. Kaiden shines in Emerys life and it made my heart so happy to see their beautiful friendship, it's exactly what she needed.

This book was a roller coaster of emotions, touched on so many hard subjects families often deal with. It hits all the things I want from a book. Under The Sycamore Tree destroyed me in the best way.

“Mama is my biggest victim. But I am also hers”
“I was worried about you, Em. That’s why”
This book broke me in a thousand million pieces.
Fans of “You’ve Reached Sam” and “Me Before You” , this one’s for you.
The story of a fighter, a survivor in a world where there’s no mercy but sometimes there’s even that little bit of hope to make things bearable.
I loved Emery’s story from the bottom of my heart. I felt like crying with her, being scared with her and feeling that frustrating love that happened when she understood what Kaiden meant for her.
I felt suffocated by the amount of emotions I experienced while reading this book. So much so that I devoured it but when it came to the last pages … I couldn’t make myself keep on reading it because I knew that reality would have kicked in somehow.
And it did … oh boy, it did !!!
I fell under that sycamore tree and for a few moments I felt at peace, just like Emery, only for afterwards came back up from my dream and cry and live with her.
It was beautifully painful. And I absolutely loved how Kaiden was there, through all of it.
I actually do not care about the labels put on that character. I cared about how he was written … and that was done wonderfully !!
I was also completely broken by the family dynamics described in this book … so raw … so true … so cruelly realistic.
I’m so glad I had the chance to read this one. But now I need time to recover !!
“We’re forced to fight. And sometimes … we don’t want to”
“Don’t hide. You’re beautiful, Emery. You’re beautiful and you’re mine”

Thanks to SourceBooks, B. Celeste, and NetGalley for access to an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this book enough to finish reading it within one day. I really connected with Emery and all the characters revolving around her. I’m not generally a reader of this type of book (realistic women’s fiction-type), as I skew more often towards science fiction and fantasy, but I couldn’t put it down.

It was a heartbreaking read. I did have some qualms about the relationship she had with Kaiden, but I don’t want to post any spoilers. I’m no stranger to spice, having read my fair share of fantasy romance and mystery romance books, but I felt a little uncomfortable at times by the ramifications of their relationship. Strictly speaking there was nothing actually wrong with it, so I got over it and still enjoyed the book immensely. The rest of the story and how he cared for her made up for those uncomfortable moments.

I’ve seen this book around since it was first released and I always wanted to read it . Very grateful to the publisher for this opportunity now.

I was expecting something else to be honest. It’s a good story but not one that I can say I enjoyed fully. Maybe because my expectations were more about the romance side story and I wanted to see that part much more developed. I think at this point, the story is much more towards the woman fiction genre when the characters are working on themselves a lot and the main part is their overcoming the trauma and past relationships.

Underneath the Sycamore Tree is one of the most heartbreaking books I’ve ever read, but I loved it so much. The representation of a chronic illness, the feelings of pain and grief that were so relatable, it’s one of those books that changes your perspective on life.

Definitely a book that stays with you, where you won’t be able to stop thinking about it for days after. I highly recommend it!

Underneath The Sycamore Tree was an interesting read. It kept my attention from start to finish. Even though I knew how it would end from the very beginning I still hoped for something different for Emery. I still enjoyed her journey despite it all. I loved how the author brought chronic illness to light. This book was not the easiest to read but I’m glad I read it. It packed an emotional punch. This is my first book by this author and I’m definitely interested in reading more of her work.

I read this back in 2019 and I thoroughly enjoyed it the second time around. I do wish the cover were a bit more representative of what the novel is about.

This book was heartbreaking but so good. I read it in one sitting and cried pretty much the entire time. I don’t typically love books that make me cry very much but the writing, story, and characters were incredible. All of Emery’s pain felt so real and the discussion of people not always believing that invisible diseases are real was very important.

I would highly recommend reading this if you’re ready to sob and be sad.

the author does an incredible job of keeping you connected to the characters. i was so attached to them that i felt what they felt,

it’s one of those books that makes you look at things from a different perspective. it makes you think about everything around you, about the people around you differently. i was so ready to be let down because i knew how it would end but by the time i got there, let’s just say that i knew five stars wouldn’t be enough.

i don’t read emotional books because i cant connect to characters emotionally but helloo guess who’s wrong. i was literally shaking by the time i finished.