Known in the author's family as the 'dead cheerleader book,' it is a pretty apt description. In the small Georgia town of Worthy, football is king and the cheerleaders are the queens. However, after the big game on a fall evening, a terrible car crash occurs, where three girls are killed and the boy who was driving the other car survives. As in all close-knit communities, connections are everywhere and the deaths hit all the members. Told through a variety of viewpoints, we see the aftermath unfold: the mother of a senior cheerleader, trying to find the right way through the tragedy; a young teacher accused of a relationship with a student; a sophomore cheerleader who is left behind and has a terrible secret she keeps; and the mother of the survivor, whose son's life will also be changed forever, yet who has a life to live. At times, I wanted some of the characters to be stronger, to be less shallow, to smash the gender stereotypes that they embodied, to not perpetuate the myth that men are around to 'save' women. Yet, some characters did grow, did change, did stand up in the end which satisfied me.

When we were Worthy may seem like a YA book, with its focus on teenage rites of passage and a tragic accident which tears the town of Worthy apart. However while teenagers will enjoy it, I think the nostalgic tone means it will appeal even more to adult readers, who may recognise their own past selves in Whalen's characters. All the cliched small town figures are represented - high school football heroes, the popular girls, the homeschooled outsider, the divorced parents. Such stereotypes demonstrate the fact that this isn't a particularly unique novel, but this is not a criticism - it is precisely because the characters and plot are so ordinary and recognisable that When we were Worthy is a compelling read throughout.

This was a well written story that deals with life, death and healing. There are a lot of different things going on with each character but in the end they all blend together well and the plot keeps you wondering what truly happened right up to the end. Very enjoyable and will definitely read more from this author.

Did not finish at 50%.. Despite multiple perspectives, I found connecting to any of them plausible. Sad. Her story would have been interesting if she took the perspective of the girls leading to the accident.

My first book by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen and what a tremendous story! She is a very talented author.

The story takes place in a small town in Georgia. A devastating event occurs for the town and changes many lives forever. The story is told by 4 different people and each has something else going on in their lives (but are connected to the one big event.)

The story is heartbreaking especially if you are a parent of a teen. It shows how one terrible event can not only change one person's life but a whole small town. It's about sorrow, judgement, and eventual forgiveness.

As I read this book I kept thinking it was a bit reminiscent of Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Many of the same elements were employed to highlight teenagers making bad choices and their parents dragging the broom right behind them cleaning and covering up.

The story is set in a small town where football is the backdrop of all things good and evil. There are pretty cheerleaders and football heroes who are the least interesting characters in this book. The story is all about being a survivor after the disaster, after you have lost more than you ever thought was possible, after the fall from grace, after life hits you full in the face and takes it measure of who you are and who you may be allowed to be. The author uses every teenage ploy to add tension and drama to her story. There is underage drinking, abominable peer pressure, improper relationships, just think of a negative scenario that has been in the press and it is probably in this book.

So much of this book was troubling and uncomfortable. But the upside and the balancing effect for me was in a beautiful quote from Emily Dickinson: “Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it.” And once it was told and accepted the story preached love and salvation; “She looked into his eyes, saw kindness there, acceptance. Maybe that's what everyone in the world was searching for - someone who, when they felt vulnerable and exposed and afraid, would meet them in the doorway with a look of love so pure it made all the other stuff fall away.”

While this would not be a favorite book I think it is a solid 3-1/2 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC.

Just a lovely book about growing up, both as a teenager and an adult, about peer pressure on both young and old and what it means to live in a small, southern football-obsessed town. After Worthy, Georgia experiences a tragedy, we see the aftermath through the eyes of several different characters, all with whom you will have empathy. Beautiful written and true to life, WHEN WE WERE WORTHY will make you want to read everything written by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen. If you liked the TV series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, you will love this book.

Wowza. The VERY best book I’ve read all year. I feel like I need to sit and digest it before I’m ready to leave it behind.

Taking place in a small town where football rules, the story outlines the lives of four women after the death of three high school cheerleaders. One of the girls feels she should have been in the car with them except she was doing something terrible at the time. One is the mom of the boy who was driving the car that hit the girls. One is the mom of one of the girls. One is a high school substitute teacher who is targeted by the football players and loses her family because of it.

This is such a good book I didn’t want to go to sleep until I had finished it. I can’t recommend it more!

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen has given us an insightful look into small-town southern America. When three high school cheerleaders are killed in a horrific car accident, the aftermath threatens to expose all the secrets and lies of an otherwise sleepy little town. It is told from the perspective of the people most closely connected to the accident.

Whalen's writing style is not overly sophisticated or nuanced, but it is accessible and very easy to read. Descriptions and dialogue were balanced quite nicely. It is a fast read; I tore through this book in less than a day. Whalen's depiction of grief felt a bit off for me. It seemed that Marglyn and Hale Miner were able to overcome the crippling grief that is losing a child rather quickly and get back to their normal lives very quickly. I thought Leah's struggles following the aftermath of the accident were much more realistic. Overall, I found this compulsively readable and very interesting.

The story begins with a car crash after a high school football game and the death of 3 cheerleaders. It focuses on 4 different people's perspectives of what happens afterward.
Leah, the girl who should have been in the car; Marglyn, a mother who lost her daughter; Ava, a teacher at the high school with a secret; and Darcy whose son may have caused the accident.
This story alternates chapters each told in a different woman's voice.. From an insecure teenager wanting to fit in, to a mother trying to cope with the loss of her daughter.
I enjoyed this book and all the emotions it portrayed.

Loved this tale. This tale was of lies, tragedy and accusations and could fit into the real world. Great book.

Great story of consequences, lies and assumptions. Loved the plot and it kept me interested.

I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become - Carl Jung
Who we choose to become is who we really are and this is what the author Marybeth is bringing home in this story. What happens in high school remains in high school is what most budding adults believe, till somebody finds the courage to speak out.
The town and the ball players
Worthy is, both a town of 4162, where everyone knows everyone and a football team, where Webb Hart, Ion Stone and Seth Bishop are the Gods on the football field. A town which reveres the players and the championship games, sometimes forgets to revere the rest who are trying to survive High School. Even the teachers and the administration look the other way on their antics when these team players are close to winning the championship.
Then there is Graham, who has been cut out from the team and down on his confidence, when his dad buys him a car and suddenly he is the man's man. So to prove that, armed with a provisional licence, there is racing on to the Main Street ....
The cheerleaders
Where there are players there are cheerleaders, so enter the best friends Mary Claire, Brynne , Leah and Keary. Where there is a big win, there is an after party. So at her home, Mary Claire, Brynne and Keary get ready with Keary being the designated driver with just a driving permit, instead of Leah who is not seen since the game. The girls dress up , they dance, they drink beer, dance some more, put their make up on and they drive on to the Main Street....
The accident
Then there is an accident.. Very few eye witnesses... The girls are killed and Graham is critical and is later charged with vehicular manslaughter...
The parents
The girls' parents are shocked and barely functioning, especially Maryglyn who is unable to forget the harsh words spoken with Mary Claire. Darcy, Graham's mother is fearful for her son's life as the town seems out for revenge. Ava, a substitute teacher, has her own secret which if revealed would destroy her.
The Author
Marybeth Mayhew Whalen has weaved the story in the voices of Maryglyn, Darcy, Ava and Leah. There are a lot of characters to begin with, which is a bit confusing till it smoothens out. Every chapter by Marybeth leaves us with questions, what did really happen in the accident, whose fault was it, how is a substitute teacher involved in it and what is Leah's secret and why was she not in the car with the other girls. The curiosity and need to know increases as the pages turn, till it reaches the crescendo, and the shenanigans of Worthy's High School is revealed. I, especially liked how the author binds all the sub-plots together, slowly, to the grand finish where everything is laid bare open. All the characters have a part to play in supporting the story.
This book is fast and absorbing. It is realistic yet sensitive. The pain of the parents, especially the cry of the mother when she is given the bad news shudders my soul even now. In the midst of the grief, Marybeth has put a fantastical element which brings hope and healing. I couldn't put this book down till it got over, it left me thinking how High School is a political ground all on its own. This subject about what our kids go through in High School is so chilling that it is shocking and it brings home the fact, that when the kids push us away, that is the time when they actually need us the most.
The book is almost flawless except for a few niggles, I wanted a bit more dramatics at the end, a strong lesson in terms of repercussions to the players. I wanted the secret to come out with a stronger voice. But that's purely me to satisfy my need for justice.
This is my first book by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen and my journey with this author will continue long. A few words written by Marybeth in the book which brought peace in the midst of mayhem
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without words
And never stops at all...

Great tale of secrets and suspicions. Kept me interested.

This was a really good book and I enjoyed it from start to finish. This is the story of a game winning day turning into a nightmare for the town of Worthy Georgia. A fatal crash throws the town into a tailspin of accusations and suspicion due to the death of three young women and the young man, who is believed to be at fault. How the mothers of a victim and the accused was so realistic that this could be a true crime story. We also see the survivor’s guilt of the fourth young women who should have been in the car with her friends. Secrets run rampant in this story and make it all the more intriguing.

When We Were Worthy, a clever title, takes place in a small town called Worthy in Georgia. This is town that is ruled by football, notably the Worthy High School football team.

The novel centers around a car accident involving three cheerleaders and a teenage boy who hit them while 'racing' his fancy new vehicle. There are other subplots happening, however, and the story unspools in a slow reveal of what really happened, and how, and why.

I did not grow up in a big football-culture area so while parts of it seemed a bit unfathomable to me, I know enough to realize that such idolization does occur and that schools will go to great lengths to protect their esteemed players.

This was a solid and enjoyable read by an author with an exceedingly approachable style. Also, let it be known that I wrote this review while listening to Damien Escobar on Spotify. I'd never heard of him before, but read the author's note about him in the Acknowledgements and immediately had to check him out. Thanks, Marybeth- he is great!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC of When We Were Worthy. Lake Union is a wonderful publishing house and I am glad to work with them. All thoughts and opinions in this review are solely my own.

What woman doesn't want to feel worthy of love? This issue is explored in great detail in a wonderful piece of chick-lit that I think all readers will love.

I can give this book easily 10 stars.
Wonderful story filled with sentiment and a sensitive insight into human feelings and behavior.
Tissue Alert: a tear jerker but I so loved the writings of this beautiful book.

“We were Worthy, a town and a team. The town was small, just 4,162 souls calling it home. And we knew just about all of them in one way or another. “

How much can you really know about your neighbors? How can all the adults possibly know what secrets are lurking behind those beatific cheerleader smiles or the monstrous meaning behind the handsome football players winks? A winning touchdown won’t shield the residents of Worthy, Georgia from the tragic deaths of three town darlings. That a sweet young man may be to blame, one of their own who lies injured in the hospital bed suspended in time, trapped by a fog of pain, not yet fully aware of what he has done. Can a mother protect him, will him to forget to keep him safe? The town is hungry for answers, to see someone punished! Everyone will turn on each other, some will remain silent, guarding their shameful secrets. Leah feels like a shadow, marked for death though she wasn’t in the car that night, even if she should have been. She carries survivor’s shame, can’t bear the stares that bore into her seeming to ask “why not you?” Just why wasn’t she in that car, something her own mother wonders too. There are secrets the cheerleaders took with them to their graves, ones she is a part of, one she needs to purge but cannot.

What of the mothers? The last time that Marglyn was with her daughter, there was a fight, how could she have possibly known what fate had in store for her? Shamed that her mind was on another child while Mary Claire needed her, she is weighted with regret and pain… so much pain. Darcy’s son was at the wheel of the other car, her sweet young son who would never harm a soul, now she must protect him fiercely from a town bent on revenge, a town that needs someone to pin their pain and shock on. Who better than the cause! Ava, substitute teacher, a local man’s wife, has a seedy secret, one she hopes died with the popular cheerleaders, those girls with eyes everywhere. Disgusted with herself, that she can find a small relief, safety for herself in such a tragic loss, one that took secrets that would be ruinous to her career, and worse, her marriage. Leah, sweet confused Leah whose best friends weren’t always the greatest, the girls she was supposed to be with and the dirty plan that had her left behind, oblivious that her friends were about to die… all these secrets will converge, splitting some people apart and drawing unlikely friendships and loves together. Is truth salvation, or will it lead to more destruction?

What of the men, what of the men in the lives of the women? They too will face the truth about their lives, strengths, weaknesses and everything in between. Some may see the things they’ve taken for granted, others will need to decide whether to let go or start something new. Some sniffing around women that belong to others, turning toward or away from their wives, stepping up for the children or having a hand in their downfall… no one is without blame. The town of Worthy is about to find out just what they are really made of.

I really enjoyed this more than I expected. Leah had my heart, I think there is a little Leah in every teenage girl, that hunger to be accepted. I think most mothers of teenage girls can relate to the distance and anger that Mary Alice has for her mother. As much as they love us, when girls begin to become young women they get embarrassed by us, even while needing us they carry such an emotional storm within that they lash out as much as they are tender. There is something feral in teenagers, but who can blame them with all those hormones running amok, we remember… we remember being the same. Not easy for mothers at all to see your sweet baby girl blossoming with the push and pull of need. Such a confusing time! Luckily for the majority of us, our bickering will be smoothed over later, not so here. The marriages are a wreck, women make huge mistakes being attention hungry. As the town judges and spouses too, the reader is privy to the internal strife of each character, with such knowledge, just who is to blame for the tragedy? No one or everyone? Sometimes it’s easier to turn on your loved ones rather than to realize how much responsibility you carry.

Publication Date: September 12, 2017

Lake Union Publishing

When We Were Worthy tells the heartbreaking story of how a small town is affected after three girls die in a car crash. It deals with topics like guilt and blame and culpability, forgiveness and hope. It explores how people can go on after such horrific events.
The story is told through the eyes of several women/girls. I loved how all their lives were woven into the story. It was intimate and emotional to read how they were experiencing their loss. And I felt connected to all of them. The icing on the cake was a lovely a little twist at the very end of the book.
I’m struggling with this review because I really loved this book, but I can’t analyse the emotions I felt while reading and connect them to specific parts or characters or plots. So I’m just going with this very general review because for me this is a very good book and I'll keep my eye out for other books by this author.

*** I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***