Book:
WE CAN NEVER LEAVE by H.E. Edgmon
Thank you Netgalley and WednesdayBooks for the Earc (Jun 10)

Review:
3⭐
I went back and forth on how to rate this. Part of me thought this was interesting, but the other part of my was utterly confused by what was going on. That part almost won out, but really, the ending saved this. It twisted and turned in such a way that I couldn't unwind it.
WE CAN NEVER LEAVE follows multiple people, all members of a Caravan. They're not exactly human. When they wake to find most of the Caravan has disappeared, except for them, the group embarks on a journey to find civilization, the figure out where the others went.
This book had its interesting points, but it was really hard for me to wrap my head around what was going on. It almost felt like I zoned out through the first half since it was hard to keep track of what was going on...when all that was going on were people arguing as they rode in a RV. It seemed like nothing was going on but the occasional weird scene.
What was happening throughout this book wasn't all that confused me. It was hard keeping track of the POVs, especially in the Before chapters. Yes, even though it was labeled.
With all that being said, WE CAN NEVER LEAVE did eventually draw me in, holding my interest long enough to finish it. There were moments where realization began snaking its way through, but I never saw tha revelation coming. It shocked me while leaving my dumbfounded at how. How did it happen? How did the figure it out? Etc. Because of this, the twist that needed more explanation, I rated this a 3 instead of lower.

I don't know how I feel about this book. Starting with the writing style, this book had very poetic descriptions, lots of metaphors and what not. Personally, I felt like some of these descriptions were borderline incomprehensible, but I feel like a lot of readers tend to gravitate towards poetic writing, so this is more of a me problem. As for the plot... well, there barely is one. You get a little plot at the beginning and a little plot at the end, but most of this book is just the characters meandering around and arguing. Speaking of characters, they were quite unlikable, but I still liked reading about them. However, they are quite stagnant throughout the narrative. Since there was so little plot, I figured there would be a lot of character growth, but we don't really see any of that until about the 70% mark. The narrative mostly goes back and forth between present day when the characters are just arguing and fighting and the past where we get vague snippets of the characters traumatic pasts. We don't really learn that much about the character's pasts, the caravan, or the plot itself. I did like the few answers that were given, but I was just left with way too many questions to really feel satisfied. Also, I did not like the Felix chapters. For some reason, the "author" decides to speak to the reader in the Felix chapters. I don't know why. It just felt super condescending. For example. "This whole thing is reeking of a religious cult. Have you picked up on that yet?" (chapter 8) and "Okay, pause. Hello again, reader. I imagine you might be having some thoughts right now." (chapter 18). Each of these interjections took me out of the moment and, again, felt so condescending. It felt like the author doesn't think the readers are smart enough to pick up on subtext so they decided to actively address the reader and be like "hey, btw, did you pick up on that subtext earlier???" Now I just feel like I'm ranting. Anyway, this book was fine, I guess? Not much plot, not many answers, and not much character growth. But despite all that, it was still a pretty good reading experience.

I like this one, but I wish there was more. I love Edgmon's characters and the emotional intensity, but I really wanted more at the end of the book. These characters are interesting and I wanted to keep learning and processing with them.
The story switched between perspectives which I love, and it jumped from past timelines to the present timeline which I also love, but it did take me a little bit to get used to the time jumps with so many character perspectives. I really appreciate the project of this story because I have deconstructed from a high control religion. I hope there will be more in this world with these themes because I think it is an important topic, and Edgmon captures so much of the emotional turmoil in this story.

Big big thanks to Wednesday for reaching out with the offer to arc this one. It’s funny cause I actually entered a Goodreads contest for this one either hours or days before getting the email so thanks kindly. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me, but I’m absolutely certain it’ll find its people.

This book confused me to no end.
And, unsurprisingly, I loved it.

PLOT SUMMARY:

When five teenagers awaken from sleep to find their found-family–a caravan comprised of “freaks” of nature–missing, they take to the road in search of them. But, as time wears on, and these five teenagers butt-heads and find common ground, they begin to realize that the mystery surrounding the Caravan is far darker than they had anticipated…

PLOT REVIEW:

Sometimes, you find a book that is so deeply confusing and full of careful thought that you can’t help but shout “WHAT?!” through huge crocodile tears.
We Can Never Leave is that book for me.
It’s a touching story about gender, sexuality, and the complicated feeling of belonging. I loved these aspects of the book. Many novels are touching on these sorts of subjects, but H.E. Edgmon took such care in representing them that I felt truly grateful.
But.
This book is about a Caravan (cult, to be more clear) with buried secrets and mysterious ways. I would have loved to learn more about this society and how, exactly, they “find” their members. However, that aspect of the story was never really resolved or fully touched on. We see the gruesome acts of the members directed towards their children, but we are never told WHY this is happening.
What is their motivation? Why do they do what they do? Where are they getting all of their members?
I would have loved to learn more about these subjects.
While that may be the case, I still immensely enjoyed each plot point of our characters. They were nuanced and very intentional.
Bonus, the ending actually left me surprised! Something that rarely happens.

CHARACTERS:

It is a rare book that is able to create such unique characters with multiple defining qualities.
Even better, it takes a super special book to make me hate and love MCs equally and interchangeably.
The most interesting character in this book?
Eamon, for sure. He was the most fascinating to me. And his ending was quite shocking and left me reeling.
Bird was also a very intriguing person. They have a very deep story with nuances and difficulties that make them both relatable and understandable. Their struggles with gender and acceptance were also deeply touching and most likely helped young teens relate to them a lot more.
Felix and Hugo were my least favorite characters, but I still loved them all the same. I realize that makes no sense, but it was truly impossible for me to hate anyone in this book. They are each what they were raised to be. Can we blame any of them for their actions, no matter how horrible?
Even Cal, who was my favorite character out of the five, I hated and loved in intervals. She’s deeply complicated and snarky, with a heart of gold and hidden desires even she seems unaware of.
Even better, all of these characters are Queer in one way or another. We have such broad representation, and I love seeing that in books for teens. We need more books like this, and I hope that we start to get them.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Confusing, Queer, and so emotionally gripping that I want to scream and cry into the abyss that is life….

I am in love with the dark imagery written in really beautiful language that H.E. Edgmon has mastered.
Each of the characters we follow throughout the book are compelling, even when there is a narrator speaking directly to the reader (in Felix's chapters specifically) to sow seeds of distrust and something dark seeping through the pages.
The use of magic is compelling, with Bird literally glowing, Hugo controlling fire, and Felix's ability to control the situation in an unusual way.
The ability Felix has to create a world of his own and trap people there feels very similar to the idea in the author's Godly Heathens duology, but in this book it's much more developed and confirmed to be what is happening.
Bird and Hugo were filled with angst, but it was very on par for their ages and the situations that have led them to their current relationship, It was heartbreaking that they never really got a reunion before the ending of the book, especially because they are permanently separated by Felix's created realm.
I think the inclusion of the Felix's twin, both in reality and the character he creates of her in his mind realm, was disturbing but also goes to show there is something deeply unsettling going on with the Caravan.
The characters who later return to the real-life Caravan after being released by Felix coming to th4e conclusion that there is something dark and secret of how the people who join the Caravan come to the community.

I received a free copy of, We Can Never Leave, by H.E. Edgmon, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Five half humans are left to figure out what happened to everyone else, but they all have their own secrets. Im not normally a fan of fantasy, but this was different.

So I wanted to like this and there are some things that I did like. I did like the idea of "outcasts"--always a positive to show characters that readers can see themselves in. Breaking away from or trauma around narcissist parenting, cults/religion is also a powerful theme.

As much as I tried to like this, it was boring. The beginning has promise, the ending is wild, but the whole middle is dull. I found myself skipping a lot to get to some plot. There just seemed to be too much arguing and personal thoughts that didn't hold my attention. It was also hard to like any of the characters. It's never explained why they all hate each other so much. The "reasons" given just don't hold. Following a group of unlikeable teens on an endless journey when all that happens is arguing...not interesting.

I do appreciate the ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher.

I love everything H E Edgmon writes. I love the interrogation of humanity, the analysis of gender/sexuality that’s simultaneously subtle but also front and center. Excited to read more.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with this ARC through Netgalley! This review will, of course, be honest. I think 3 stars is the rating I'm going to land on, I enjoyed the book but there were definitely moments that lowered the rating for me:

I have to admit upfront that I was hesitant going into this, I've dnf-ed two other books by the author due to being unable to really get into them despite the cool concepts and worried that it would be the same with "We Can Never Leave". However! I did get into this! For the most part, I really enjoyed reading this book and the story that was being told. I've always found Edgmon's concepts for their stories to be really cool, and this was no different!

Overall, I thought the premise was really good. I enjoyed the chapters with the different perspectives and the "Before" chapters, I think they gave a nice touch to the worldbuilding and setting up everything that happened, well, before. I liked seeing the characters' perspectives of the events, I always enjoy when the cast of characters has a chapter for each view.

Of course, I said I enjoyed this for the most part. There were things I did not enjoy.

The thing that kept taking me out of the story being told was the author insertion moments where I was addressed directly. I genuinely think that something like that could be cool, but the way it was done just kept taking me out of the story every time it happened. Including lines like "No one is paying me to write a D.A.R.E. campaign" and "Okay, pause. Hello again, reader." (and frankly the entire section that follows that line specifically) just didn't ... vibe with the way the story was being told. Again, I do genuinely think that telling a story in this way and having the author be part of it like this could be cool, but the way this was done just really took me out of it. I think, sometimes, letting the reader think things for themself is good and you don't need to jump in as The Author and tell me what I should be thinking at this current moment.

Another thing that I can never get behind was the pop culture references. Don't get me wrong, I love Hozier, I am hopelessly addicted to TikTok, but making mention of that is ... a choice...! I had similar complaints with "The Witch King", though, so I guess I can't be too surprised that there are more pop culture references in this too.

I think the ending was ... interesting! Maybe dampened a little by all of the author notes about the specific character, but still interesting!

And for what it's worth, I liked Felix. I feel bad for him. For all of them, really, but for him.

All that to say, I did genuinely fine "We Can Never Leave" interesting and I'm glad I was hooked enough to actually finish it! In one sitting no less! Again, thank you to the publishers for reaching out to me with this ARC and thank you to Netgalley for making it available to me!

This book was pretty good, but I do have a few arguments with it. It jumped back-and-forth between so many characters that I couldn’t keep track of what was actually happening in the story. The many threaded plot line was difficult to follow. That, combined with the difficult plot line of the characters being part animal made it very difficult to follow this book. Apart from that, I liked it. Had the jumping back-and-forth been lesser, I think I could’ve followed this much better. The characters were interesting And the concept engaging. Some better editing and I think this book would be amazing.

This was a really great look at someone who is trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. Heartbreaking and heartwarming in the same beat.

I loved this story and the characters! Such a fun read and we love to see queer rep. I didn’t want to finish because I was enjoying it!

This book still has me thinking about it! What a fascinating and unsettling story that shows the tragedy of life that so many experience. As a fan of the author, I was ready to enjoy the world, and while it was well-written, I felt more that I was a witness to a horrific event than one who could enjoy the proceedings. Overall, an outstanding story. I will definitely be rereading this one.

Queer rep, young adult, contemporary fantasy! A perfect mix! This novel leaves you reeling and wanting to see more!

Secrets, found family, and an interesting mystery! I loved seeing how this story unfolded and the characters all will steal your heart!

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a gorgeously queer, deeply emotional journey about identity, belonging, and the bonds that form in the face of the unknown. Edgmon’s writing is rich with heart and grit, weaving a contemporary fantasy world full of inhuman creatures, tangled relationships, and secrets that cut deep. The characters are raw, messy, and unforgettable, each grappling with their own truths while searching for a lost community. It’s a beautifully crafted exploration of what it means to find home, not in a place, but in each other.

Thank you NetGally and publisher for this book!

Wow! WOW! Wow!! Boy was this book a great one! I enjoyed this writing style. All of the twist and turns. This thriller was definitely one I had a hard time putting down. I guessed wrong every time!! I will be picking up more books by this author ASAP!!