This was a great historical fiction novella, I thought the concept was strongly written and enjoyed getting to know what was going on. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and glad I got to read about this. Shannon St. Hilaire has a strong writing style that had that feel I was looking for.

A lovely, well-paced, insightful, and utterly heartbreaking story! I couldn't stop thinking about this well-written narrative for days after reading it. However, I do want to point out that there should be a trigger warning involving infant death.

4.5 stars.
I really loved this book! The writing was so well done, and I thought the story was the perfect length to encapsulate everything without being unnecessarily long. Since this story follows a white American nun in El Salvador, I was worried this was going to be a white savior kind of novel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that to not really be the case. Additionally, it has been a while since a book moved me quite as much as this did. It was so short and yet incredibly heartbreaking and beautiful. I didn't know much about El Salvador's civil war before reading this book, but I feel like even going into it knowing nothing I was able to understand the sheer brutality. Overall, just very well written.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novella was a 5 star read for me not only did it educate me on an event that happened in my lifetime I knew nothing about it also wove a story I don't think I can easily forget.

Based during the El Salvador Civil War the story of the nun who through duty voluntarily stayed behind during a time of uncertainty and danger just hit all my emotions. This book hit on friendship, love, loss, poverty but the heart of all this was a woman who helped when no one else could. The way the author blended the reality El Salvardorians faced with the fictional take of a woman who felt bound by her faith to reach out help and stay with those who needed it the most.

The author has so beautifully written the story intertwining the Spanish language, religious prose and English, which leads it to be almost poetetic in nature.

I think I will forever have this story etched in me, I am a bit of a history buff and am now seeking out both fiction and non fiction on this period in history. I look forward to also finding more pieces by this author.

The book as a meal: I am eating scraps in a bunker, wondering if and when I will get to eat my next full meal
The book left me: Melancholic

Why did this call out to me?
The cover is absolutely stunning, and when I read the description I fell in love with the book. Right up my alley

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
Very pick-up-able, I wanted to keep on reading this even when I was falling asleep. But it took me two sessions of reading before I finished it

Issues:
Main character seems very unsure of her choices
The romance came a bit out of left field

Good things:
Atmospheric, got me feeling things
Perfect pacing for a story like this

How did it feel to read?
Felt very much like I was in the story itself. Sucked right in. Whenever it was dangerous, i felt lik I was in danger. When there was a lull between happenings, I was calm, but also wondered how long my safety would last.

What mood would I read this in?
This is more so a summer read, it has a warmness and summery feeling to it

Where does this fall in my tier list ranking?
A safe A rank. Gave me feelies, I wanted to read it, and I am thoroughly satisfied by it. Will recommend.

Not a bad story, however not my favorite.
The way the text reads definitely needs more definition between thoughts and direct quotes. The lack of quotation marks kept pulling me from the story, and I had to work to understand what was said and what was description.

A wonderful and heartbreaking story of love and loss. Beautiful story. The story of a nun discovering herself and questioning her ideologies. The story of a priest who guides the last nun of the village to challenge her beliefs in order for them to both find love. The Ones Who Stayed is a work of art.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

The Ones Who Stayed is a novella-length historical fiction book. While I need to admit that I don't read a lot of historical fiction, something about this summary caught my attention. And I'm so glad I did read it.

I appreciated the short chapters honestly. It really did help keep my attention and help me understand things.
The story was tragic but beautifully told.

4.5 stars rounded up.

A heart-breaking, tragic, and beautiful tale about the horror that occurred during the Salvadoran Civil War. As an American with little previous knowledge about the war, this book was eyeopening and humbling. While I can never pretend to imagine what the Salvadoran people and individuals in the country at the time actually went through in the war, this beautifully written novella provides an insight I didn't have before.

What Worked For Me:
- Full disclosure, I was a little nervous about seeing the horrors of this situation through the eyes of a white American nun. I was worried it would come off as a White-Savior kind of novel, but I actually did not have that feeling at all, and we got insight into Agnes' stark realization that she truly can't save anyone, and it's only through working together and listening to those who live in the region that she can really do anything good at all.
- The way this story was written was beautiful, Even in the stark bleakness of the topic, the prose was poetic and elegant, and I appreciated the fluid mix of English and Spanish dialogue.

What Didn't Work:
- I'm sure it was a stylistic choice, but the lack of quotation marks throughout the book made reading it much more of a struggle than it would have been otherwise. The author notes that this book is intended for American audiences, but the lack of traditional American formatting makes the story and content less accessible to a general audience and, as someone with slight dyslexic traits and focus problems, the blocks of unmarked text meant I often had to read and re-read passages in order to figure out what was dialogue and what was narration. The formatting is really the only reason for taking off half a star!

A beautifully written, absolutely heart-wrenching novella! This story is well paced and left me thinking about it for days afterwards. I highly recommend.

A brilliant and poignant novella about war, religion and love. This novel was written with so much love behind every single word, despite it being on the shorter side, I really felt everything. I found the brutal and unrelenting plot serving as a reminder of the beauty of the mundane, something we often take for granted. Well written and delicately executed, a fantastic glimpse into a part of history that is often overlooked.