Emery Lord, you contemporary queen. This was fantastic and gave me all the feels. I loved all of the characters. They were well thought out and bought so much life to the story. I love when there are strong bonds between friends and family and there was no lacking that in here. Definitely a heartbreaking read but a must if you love a good YA contemporary.

Luce begins to question her faith when her mother's cancer returns. To make matters worse her boyfriend decides to pause their relationship. Her mum suggests that she goes to a different camp this summer which will mean that she is away from her parents during this difficult time. 

When I first started this book I thought that it was going to be an emotional book that focused on cancer and Luce questioning her religious beliefs. Whilst this was part of the story I felt that the romance element overtook this. I wasn't a huge fan of Henry and I didn't like the romance between Luce and him. The author also seemed to add unnecessary drama. At the start, I did enjoy the plot. I liked the way that the author explored Lucy questioning her faith. 

The pacing of this book was so slow. Nothing seemed to happen for the majority of the book. We get to see a lot of the different camp activities but I didn't find this particularly interesting. The ending was especially disappointing. The ending is left very open and I would have liked more of a conclusion. I really wanted to know what happened to Luce's mum as I felt that was the main part of the book but we don't even know what happened in the end. 

Overall this was a disappointing read and unfortunately, this is the second Emery Lord book that I have not been impressed with.

Rating - 3 / 5

I felt quite sorry for Lucy in this, having a loved one battling cancer would be hard enough, but having to go through it twice would be really difficult. 

This wasn't a bad read, but it didn't take long before it started to drag for me unfortunately. I was hoping it would gain my interest back later in the book, but it never happened. 

Overall, Not one I loved, but an okay read.

(I received an advance copy of this book for free. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley.)

“We don’t want you to worry,” my mom says. “Surgery is scheduled for Monday morning.”

This was a YA contemporary story about a girl whose Christian faith was tested when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time. 

Lucy was an okay character and I felt really sorry for her and her family. Going through a breast cancer diagnosis must be super hard, and to have to face it twice felt really unfair, and I could see why she stopped praying for a while. 

The storyline in this was about Lucy’s mom asking her to be a counsellor at a camp for troubled teens instead of at her parent’s church camp, and Lucy doing it because she knew it would make her mom happy. We also had Lucy’s faith being tested by the diagnosis and a bit of a romance storyline, with Lucy’s boyfriend Lukas ‘pausing’ their relationship at such a hard time for her, and Lucy finding another romantic interest at Camp Daybreak. The pace in this was so slow though! After the initial getting to camp was over, it was just day-to-day camp activities, very little romance, and even Lucy’s mom’s cancer seemed to take a back burner which was surprising for me as it felt like it should have been the main storyline. 

The ending to this was a big disappointment for me as the story seemed to just leave us hanging, and it didn’t feel like a proper ending at all.
6 out of 10

This was an easy read with a good variety of characters, each with their own little piece of baggage. I slipped into the summer camp life of teenagers and enjoyed watching Lucy discover herself and connect with a new group of friends.
I did enjoy it although I did find it a bit too .... nice? I do like books that are gritty and heartbreaking and that make me cry and this book wasn't any of those things.
A solid three and a half stars for a good story and awesome group of friends that will do anything for each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, especially how it was so inclusive of people from all sorts of backgrounds. There were religious and non-religious people, kids from foster families, adopted kids, different nationalities, and an LGBT+ aspect too. I feel that Lord did an excellent job at including all these people without falling in to any stereotype traps.

I have to say though, I was very surprised by the very strong religious aspect in this book. Not that I have anything against it of course, but considering it was such a major part of Lucy's life and the story, I feel it should have had a mention in the blurb. 

The dialogue didn't always seem entirely plausible for teens that age either, but that wasn't a major issue when reading this. 

All in all, I did really enjoy reading all the ins and outs of the book. But, did it really have to end there? What happened???

"I'm not too young to know my own heart. Sure, its terrain I'm still learning to map, but I know the landscape better than anyone. I know the unexpected dips and paths that were not meant for me." - p. 232. 

I think most young adult novels are about young people trying to figure out who they are. "The Names They Gave Us" is no different, but it's certainly a take I haven't read before. I love the passage quoted above, and I bet teen readers would too. Because I think teenagers often doubt themselves and wonder if they are being true to themselves, too much, or too little. This novel gives kids permission to be themselves, know themselves, be honest with themselves. And Emery Lord does this in such a beautiful, eloquent, and heartfelt way.

This novel was beautiful, emotional, raw; such a spectrum of emotions: happiness, empathy, sadness. Emery Lord's storytelling brings light and love into a young girl's life, whilst facing not only the 'normal' struggles of your teenage years, but having to deal head-on with one of life's most terrifying challenges: her mother having cancer.

Regardless, this is not a 'cancer book.' This about Lucy finding her way - exploring new paths and learning to find herself in a completely different world. 

I love how Lord easily explores all aspects; the difficulties of not only Lucy's, but the other camper's lives as well, whilst still including the ups and downs of everyday teenage/child life. She keeps it succinct, without it being at all overwhelming or it coming across as unnecessary. 

Although Lord didn't go into depth about the other's characters lives as much as Lucy's, I adore how they were included. Not only did it help Lucy cope with her broken pieces, but I believe it sends a subtle message to readers, that no matter what you are going through, everyone has their own story to tell. It will encourage young readers to persevere even though the rain storm's because there is always stars to look up at or lake's to swim in.

So this book made me cry, twice. I think a lot of it was a personal thing... Lucy and her story are a lot like my life. I'm someone who constantly struggles with my faith and mine certainly wasn't as strong as Lucy's to begin with!
This book was a perfect emotional fluff read. The camp was wonderful and felt so real. I work in a school and I found my self saying "omg yes so true!" At many of the interactions. 
Lucy herself is incredibly relatable. She's young and naive and wants to be seen as strong and immature and seeing her slowly learn how to be herself and accept that things aren't perfect was wonderful to see. In the book Lucy begins to learn what she wants not only for herself but for others and how he can make an impact in ways she didn't expect. 
Emery Lords writing in this book was wonderful. I felt like everything was natural and I didn't feel like anything was forced at all. I love being able to read a book grin from ear to ear or tear up, it shows that I'm truly immersed in a good book.
I have to say I was not thrilled with the ending. Like, what happens with her mum???? I understand the book is about Lucy coming to terms with not being able to fix everything or have an easy answer but oh boy I am not Lucy and I would very much like one!

This book was about a Christian girl but was relatable to non Christians too.  No spoilers, but I felt like it ended at the right point.  The characters were diverse and well fleshed out and I enjoyed getting to know them.

Plot

In Emery Lord's newest release The Names They Gave Us we are introduced to Lucy Hansson, a high school student who has her summer all figured out but then things don't go quite as planned. Her mother's cancer returns, her boyfriend put their relationship on pause in an effort to figure if this relationship is really what they both want going forward and on top of all of that, Lucy also isn't working as a counselor at her childhood bible camp and instead helps out at Camp Daybreak, a neighbouring camp for troubled kids. 

We join Lucy as she tries dealing with her new normal of working at Camp Daybreak, Sundays with her mother and her developing relationships with her fellow counselors at Camp Daybreak. 

The plot for The Names They Gave Us sounded really intriguing to me when I first read it and I knew I wanted to read this book and see how Emery Lord would tell this story, even though I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy the religious aspects of the story as that is not something I usually gravitate towards in books I want to read. But I have to say, it wasn't something that felt like it was being pushed down your throat at any given point in the story. Religion was an important part of who Lucy was, yes. But it wasn't all Lucy was or what this story was about. I really appreciated that! 

This story truly was about friendships and the relationships Lucy has build with the people in her life. Her parents are active participants in her life - even though they keep secrets from her. And once Lucy arrives at Camp Daybreak she immediately gets along really well with Anna and through her connects with Jones, Keely and Tambe, a group of counselors who have worked at Camp Daybreak together before. I really enjoyed watching their dynamic!

Writing

This was my first novel by Emery Lord and I didn't know what to expect from her writing because of it. But I really enjoyed it! 

I enjoyed that she took the time to introduce us to Camp Daybreak and it's daily rhythm; that we got to experience a day in the life with Lucy and her group of girls. We also get to explore the surroundings of Camp Daybreak a little bit, which was a fun addition to the story and allowed the characters to show a different side of themselves, which is definitely something I appreciate a lot in a story! 

Characters

I've already talked a little bit about the characters, so I am not going to repeat all of it again here. What I do want to add is that I really appreciated the diverse set of characters that Emery Lord introduced us to in her story. 

And just how Religion wasn't Lucy's defining character trait, none of these characters were just the aspects that highlighted them as diverse. It was never the black character XY or anything like that. Yes, character XY was black but also caring and loving and talented and so much more and I really loved seeing that! 

Pacing

They Names They Gave Us was definitely a well-paced story for a majority of the book. It had really small moments where I wished the author had taken more time to deal with situations that came up, but those weren't major story points or drawbacks for me. 

Enjoyment

To be completely honest, I was a little bit concerned that I might not enjoy this book as much as I would a different book with characters who weren't teenagers, but that worries were for nothing! I actually really enjoyed reading about these characters and their day to day lives as counselors at camp but also as just teenagers on their nights and days off. 

Maybe that was because these characters didn't feel like teenagers most of the time? They felt they were mature for their age which definitely influenced my enjoyment! 

This was a really quick and easy read and highly enjoyable! And now that I've read this, I definitely want to check out the author's previous works!

(This review goes online on my blog on May 25th!)

Luce is a pastor's daughter, captain of the swim team despite her asthma and has a doting boyfriend, Lukas.
Yet, her mum fought breast cancer, to the knowledge of everyone as she is also the school nurse as well as pastor's wife.
For Luce, Prom was magical until doubts bubble up towards her mum's condition after the concerned head principal approached her.

After a double mastectomy they learn the cancer has spread to her mum's lymph nodes and so her parents ask her to keep things normal and go and work as a camp councillor for the summer at camp where she usually goes. She worries about her mum of course but goes to camp especially as her boyfriend has paused their two year strong relationship.

At camp she has a good time and makes friends with Anna, a fellow councillor. However the kids at camp have a lot of issues such as underage pregnancy, health conditions, being transgender, suicide and dead parents. At camp they can escape the bad and enjoy the activities on offer.

Then trumpet player Henry Jones sets Luce's pianist heart a flutter which is great, until Lukas turns up!

Cue a lot of drama ahead, a family secret found out by accident and then an emergency in the hospital the force of love within a family has never been stronger.

The books deals with teen pregnancy and the pressures of cancer on a family and the individuals it shows the good and bad of each and the way things get better or worse before they can flip around again and again but love around you never changes, never wavers. 

A great new novel by Emery Lord, thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review it for them!

This considered and highly engaging exploration of the summer one confident but somewhat sheltered teenager’s world is turned upside down surprises and endears at every turn. It’s character-driven but delivers on plot as well as premise. It’s warm, sweet and heartfelt, but it’s also serious, thoughtful and, occasionally, heartbreaking. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did, but it really blew me away.  Kind, accepting, hard-working Lucy is a complex and well-realized protagonist, doing her best in the face of challenges and slowly realizing she is in a place where it is okay to feel as she does – angry, conflicted, afraid, guilty for the chinks showing in her once-dutiful armour – and what’s more, where new friends and unexpected allies will feel it with her.

Among them are fellow counsellors like friendly Anna, guarded Keely, and outgoing Tambe, each with histories and complexities of their own. Best of all, however, is the bespectacled Henry Jones: lively, thoughtful and flawed, he cares deeply (and dances enthusiastically), and is wonderfully well-drawn. The depth of characterisation in this book puts most contemporaries to shame, but the romance is perhaps even better. It’s realistic, passionate and honest. Lucy and Jones actually spend time together and get to know each other – their shared talent for music and equal devotion to the kids of camp are particular highlights - turning theirs from sweet romance to gorgeous relationship in a way that soars. I loved seeing Lucy’s interactions with her young charges, too, as she tries to figure them out whether by teaching shy Thuy to swim to giving Nadia a shoulder to lean on. Vibrant, diverse and individual, these characters leap from the page.

The Names They Gave Us is filled with the requisite moments of plot and drama, secrets and revelations, humour and heartbreak. It’s in the balancing of this quickly-enrapturing plot with the brilliant handling of heavy subjects that Lord excels. Frank, compassionate and incredibly empathetic, the vivid portrayal of its characters’ multifarious, and sometimes traumatic, experiences is exemplified by Lord’s unabashed confrontation of themes as varied as grief, sexuality, and religion. The immense care and sensitivity with which Lord depicts faith allows her to capture both Lucy’s belief and struggles. This is YA with present parents in the shape of Lucy’s funny, loving mom and open, good-natured pastor dad, and with fabulous, imperfect friendships, too. The ending is quite rushed and abrupt, and the prose style is a little choppy, but the book is absorbing from start to finish. 

A full version of this review will appear on my blog closer to publication.