Mia is stuck in a cycle of grief. She can’t quite remember what happened the night that her sister died – her mother has pretty much abandoned her and her father can’t even look at her anymore. She feels alone and wishes that she could have died in her sister’s place. She has given up on the passions she had before the accident and just wants to be invisible. She wears a constant reminder of the night that she cannot remember (or forget)  on her face in the form of a disfiguring scar.

Mia goes to live with her estranged grandmother for the summer. There she is forced to step out and live life. Through friendships that she forms with other teens who have struggled with various traumas – she learns to let people in again and starts to remember the worst night of her life.

This is a wonderful book that I think teens and adults of all ages will love. There are traumatic events in each of the characters’ pasts that are discussed and could be triggering for some readers. For example abuse, sexual assault, fatal accidents.

I get tired of characters who move to a town and immediately make close friends. Sure the protagonist is broken but so are all of her new friends. Of course she falls into the laps of a group that immediately understands where she's coming from. I enjoyed the art and food parts but the rest didn't do much for me.

Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to read this book!  I appreciate the kindness. <3

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  
Thanks NetGalley!

What an emotional, touching read.         this book has some intense grief and pain in it.     
the main character has lost her sister in a tragic way that she is "responsible for"..  or is she?

read this book,  now.

This is a book about grief, blame, healing, forgiveness, love, family, and acceptance. It is not a light and fluffy read, but I mean that in the best way possible. This is a YA book with depth that will stick with readers long after it is finished. As Mia pieces together memories from the devastating accident that took her sister’s life, readers travel with Mia through her pain and path tp forgiveness.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Heather Hepler, and Blink for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

We Were Beautiful was a thought-provoking and emotional story of a young woman picking up the pieces after tragedy strikes. Mia was an amazing character because she thought that she lost everything after a car accident killed her older sister and left her with facial scars.  She is sent to live with her grandmother and starts to work at a diner, which is the perfect thing for her.  I loved how Fig and her family were so wonderful to Mia even though she felt like she was a monster inside.

Mia slowly learns that she isn’t the only one with a troubling past and that her scars aren’t just a painful reminder of what happened that night.  She learns to accept what happened and that she can move on after everything that happened.  This was a great story that will stick with me for some time.

Mia carries the facial scars from a tragic accident in which her older sister died when she was driving. Almost a year later, she is still unable to remember the events leading up to the crash, but knows she’s to blame. Abandoned first by her mother who leaves because the pain is more than she can bear and then by her emotionally paralyzed father, she is sent to NYC to spend the summer with a grandmother she’s never met and who is initially cold and distant. Despite hoping to hide, her grandmother arranges a job at a family diner run by the large, loud, loving Brunelli family who adopt her as one of their own. Fig, the granddaughter of the matriarch, Nonna, introduces her to her group of artistic friends (Art Attack) who share a common bond that is revealed as the story progresses. Over the course of the summer, friendships blossom, her attraction to enigmatic but adorable Cooper grows, and her amnesia slowly lifts, enabling her to learn the truth about the crash and to forgive herself. 

Hepler has crafted a beautiful story that defines family as a loving rather than blood bond (Mia and her grandmother, the Brunelli’s, and the Art Attack kids). Art is a form of therapy, and Mia’s rediscovered passion for photography helps the healing process. The pacing is intentionally slow (written as a first-person diary of sorts) in order for the grieving and shedding of guilt to unfold organically. The lesson, never heavy-handed, is that we all have scars, many invisible, that fade with time but that are a reminder that we all have the capacity to heal with love and unconditional support. Diverse cast of characters with one interracial couple. Trigger warning for “recovering” Catholics who have a problem with the hypocrisy of the Church and some of its adherents. Highly recommended for libraries looking for young adult books on grief and healing or books that feature artistic protagonists.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Blink through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

We Were Beautiful is a heartbreaking and poignant book which also manages to be ultimately uplifting. It follows Mia, the fifteen-year-old survivor of a car accident which left her disfigured and killed her sister, as she pieces together her memories to discover what really happened that night. In doing so, she also deals with depression, PTSD, and survivor’s guilt, as well as feeling abandoned by her parents and socially outcast. 

While these are hefty topics to deal with, Hepler handles them with care and attention. This book could be triggery for some. That said, there are added moments of fun and laughter, and the new friends that Mia finds in NYC bring the support of true friendships and romance. The overarching themes of grief and loss slowly bring themes of acceptance, forgiveness, and hope into the story and I found it to be quite empowering in this way. I appreciated learning about Fig and Cooper and their own joys and struggles, and felt the characterisation was, on the whole, very well rounded. Mia’s character growth was realistic and is balanced by the fun and friendships from Fig and Cooper. We are reminded that in suffering can be found great joy, and in joy can be found suffering, and the beauty of it all is that we are messy and imperfect but we keep showing up, leaning on those who lean on us. 

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Blink, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We Were Beautiful is a truly beautiful story of grief, family, friendship and learning to love yourself. Mia is still dealing with all the scars of losing her sister a few years before the story starts. It's clear that it had a big impact on their family and Mia feels that she's to blame for everything. That's why she's not in the least surprised she's being sent off to live with her grandmother who she never met.

Mia didn't only lose her sister that day, but her face was scarred pretty bad after the accident. In a way she feels she deserves this, because the accident is her fault, but it's also really hard for her. People stare and look at her like the scar is all she is! That's why she's hoping to lay low while with her grandmother. Only her grandmother has different plans.

Mia has a job at a family diner and it really changes her life. They welcome her with open arms and Fig (the owner's granddaughter) connects with her from the start. I loved seeing Mia welcomed so easily into someone's life, including all of Fig's friends. Mia is the only one who doesn't realize that after getting to know her a bit, no one notices the scars!

This journey is a hard one for Mia. On top of the grief and regret she feels, it's also hard dealing with parents who have kind of gone off the radar. That's why I loved the role her grandmother played. In the beginning, she's very distant, but they slowly become closer and I feel the love. This unconditional love is something Mia really needed.

We Were Beautiful isn't a fast and fluffy read. This story is actually pretty slow and in many ways it's Mia's diary. Her journey of dealing with all of her feelings, accepting them and even learning to talk about them. For Mia to realize that the accident doesn't define her and neither do the scars on her face. She's her own kind of beautiful!

Besides Mia's grandmother, her group of friends really play a big part in this. Fig takes the lead wither her family and then add the other members of the group. Each friend is unique and has their own history. All of them have dealt with abuse (it can be hard to read at times, but it's such a beautiful book) and have found each other to lean on and have fun with. Family isn't always blood!

Like most contemporary stories, there is a bit of romance, but it doesn't take over the story. It takes time to develop and I think in the end it helps both Cooper and Mia. Without even realizing it, they help the other in many ways! I honestly wouldn't have minded seeing them interact a bit more.

I definitely recommend reading this book, maybe only for the fact that it shows that everybody is beautiful in their own way. This is the first book I have read by Heather Hepler, but it definitely won't be the last!

Tragedy can strike any person at any time and it can change your life.  Here we find Mia, who is terribly scarred following an accident that changed the lives of her entire family.  In the beginning, all we know is that something irrevocable has happened creating a vast distance between Mia and her father, and necessitated her moving in with her grandmother.

The gaps of the story are slowly filled in as Mia’s memory comes back.  This book is really interesting, because the story is told through Mia’s memories as they are returning to her.  In a way, the format of the book mirrors Mia’s journey perfectly.  Nothing is completely clear to her, but as her memories come back, more of her past is revealed to both herself and the reader.

I really loved Mia.  I can’t imagine being scarred in that way, and I can’t imagine losing my sister.  She survived something truly horrific, only to wish that she hadn’t, and to face the reality that maybe others wished she hadn’t.  I’m not really sure how Mia was able to pick up and move on, but I really love books that can put me in a situation that I could never imagine on my own.  It’s like really getting to live in another world.

My favorite part about Mia and the writing in We Were Beautiful is how accurately Heather Hepler portrays teenage love and insecurity.  Even in an overwhelming amount of stress, being a teenager is a universal rite of passage.  Hepler brings amazing clarity and humor to this difficult and exciting time in a person’s life.  The characters are wonderfully well developed, some with eccentric personalities.  Her new friend Fig and her large extended family balance out Mia’s propensity for introversion and introspection. 

Honestly, this book was a delightful and intuitive read that I thoroughly I enjoyed.  It’s completely fresh and perfect for young adult book readers.

* Special thanks to Sheila Roberts, MIRA, and PUMP UP YOUR BOOK for providing a copy of The Summer Retreat in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a year since fifteen-year-old Mia Hopkins was in the car crash that killed her older sister and left her terribly scarred. The doctors tell her she was lucky to survive. Her therapist says it will take time to heal. The police reports claim there were trace amounts of alcohol in her bloodstream. But no matter how much she tries to reconstruct the events of that fateful night, Mia's memory is spotty at best. She's left with accusations, rumors, and guilt so powerful it could consume her.

As the rest of Mia's family struggles with their own grief, Mia is sent to New York City to spend the summer with a grandmother she's never met. All Mia wants to do is hide from the world, but instead she's stuck with a summer job in the bustling kitchens of the cafe down the street. There she meets Fig--blue-haired, friendly, and vivacious--who takes Mia under her wing. As Mia gets to know Fig and her friends--including Cooper, the artistic boy who is always on Mia's mind--she realizes that she's not the only one with a painful past.

Over the summer, Mia begins to learn that redemption isn't as impossible as she once thought, but her scars inside run deep and aren't nearly so simple to heal ... especially when Mia finally pieces together her memories of the night Rachel died.


Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: poignant, heavy-hitting subjects; well-written, believable amnesia; Heather Hepler explores PTSD, depression, and shifting family dynamics in the midst of trauma and loss; well-rounded, quirky characters; this journey unraveled like a fraying ribbon, in a beautiful way

HUGE thanks to Heather Hepler, Blink Publishing, the Fantastic Flying Book Club, and Netgalley for sending a complimentary egalley of this novel my way! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this title.

Once again this year, I found myself exploring the world in a new way with this read. Because I go into most novels "blind" (I don't really ever fully READ the synopsis, but instead skim over it and base my judgments on key words/the cover/the title/the author.......), I went into this book with no clear expectations. I didn't remember what the synopsis said the book was about...so finding myself looking at the world through Mia's eyes, in the midst of loss and trauma, was as new to me as to Mia herself.

I stood on the porch, my arms wrapped around myself, trying to stop the shivering. It wasn't the cold--the weather was unseasonably warm for May. It was the remaining loon calling from across the lake. They mate for life. I remember my mother telling Rachel and me that when we were young. That night, after my father went to sleep, I sat on the deck, listening as I had ever since my mother left. Listening to the loon call again and again. Every night, I sat out there, listening. The long, mournful sound would echo across the lake and raise goose bumps on my arms.

But one night I sat until all the color had faded from the sky, until the bats stopped swooping toward the water trying to catch their fill of mosquitoes. I sat there long after my father came out to tuck a blanket around me, pausing for a moment with his hand on my shoulder before stepping back inside and pulling the screen door shut behind him. I sat there until I could see my breath, and the only noises were the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind and the distant sound of a dog barking. But no call ever came. I'm not sure which was worse: the sorrowful calls or the silence. As long as she was calling, she had hope. The silence was heavy with despair.


Heather Hepler explores some poignant, heavy subjects in this book--some of which I won't even mention, because #spoilers. Included, however, are depression and PTSD in the aftermath of trauma. Survivor's guilt, and the ways that losses can wreak havoc on a family, are also touched upon. There is a beautifully smooth transition for Mia's character arc; we start the journey knowing just as much as she does, and come out the other side with all the details laid bare. I feel like Heather Hepler did a glorious job of making her readers WANT to relate to Mia, number one...and then following through by opening her character up like a fraying ribbon. By the end of the read, I felt like I knew Mia almost as well as I know myself--which is saying a lot, as it's not so easy a feat to accomplish in writing.

I really appreciate the lengths that the author went to, to bring this story more fully to life for her readers. It is obvious that Heather Hepler has a passion--and a knack--for the art of wordsmithing. I'd recommend this read to lovers of contemporary fiction, well-rounded characters, and stories that don't give away all their secrets at once. We Were Beautiful is bound to make waves in the ways you view the world, Penguins, if you let it.

Not your typical YA novel, and that's what I love about We Were Beautiful. This is not your average, happy-go-lucky coming of age story, but one that feels more realistic. Heather Helper is wonderful, and so is her writing. Strap in and give this one your undivided attention.

We Were Beautiful was a good, solid read. I somehow needed more from it than it was willing to give, but it overall still a good read. I would have liked to see the characters progress and develop a little more than what we see. I love that the main characters have a lot of depth to them. They’re not the typical perfect, beautiful teenage characters, they have been through a lot and been damaged in the process. I give big props to Heather Helper for including characters like this, who do feel so much more real. I also wish we could have seen more from them on both the front and back end of the story we are told. Overall, a solid teen read.

The only thing that let this book down was the sheer number of similar plots I’ve read in the last year. 
It’s really well written, but it pales when compared to others I’ve read. This offers nothing unique that sets it apart for me. Had I read this first, I perhaps would have been saying this about another book.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

On Mia’s 15th birthday, her sister took her to a party. After that party, a car accident occurred, leaving her sister dead and Mia ruined. Mia was driving, despite not having a license, and her injuries left her unable to remember most of the details from that day, including the accident itself.

Now, nearly a year later, her family has pretty much dissolved. Her mom left first, and then her dad sends her on a train to New York to go live with a grandmother, Veronica, that she has never met.

While Mia wants to be consumed with her own guilt and grief, Veronica gets Mia a job at another family’s restaurant where on the first day of work, she is “adopted” by Fig, a person with her own broken past. Mia must learn what it means to live with knowing what happened, her role in it, and how to live in the present moment.

We Were Beautiful takes a serious lok at what it looks like to live with the guilt and grief of something that is a complex issue while also looking at how it is survivable.  Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, I found this book heavily readable with a very good mix of emotional moments so the reader never stays in a dark emotional place for too long. (I have no objection to those books that do; this is just a mention because some readers may initially shy away for that reason.)

Because I was approved for this ARC shortly before the release date, the book is available to buy now. Check it out.

I really enjoyed this story! I loved the different personalities of each character because they were each so spunky which made the story even more beautiful. I liked following Mia's journey as she learned more about herself and about the people around her. Cooper is probably my favorite book boyfriend of the year so far after reading this! I love how he showed Mia how to embrace her mistakes and her facial deformity through his own experiences. This book does a really good job of incorporating art in all of its mediums into the story which is something I really liked. I think the author does a really good job of exploring grief and guilt within the story, but also doesn't allow Mia to use any of the characters as crutches to avoid her grief either. There is a healthy amount of them helping her work through it and her deciding for herself that she needs to let it go. I can't say much more without spoiling but I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I am excited to see what else this author does!

This story felt like watching a journey of healing unravel in real time. 

It's been nearly a year since the accident that left Mia Hopkins scarred and her sister dead, and the pain still persists. She's been told time will heal her wounds, that she'll move on one day...but she doesn't want to. She just wants to remember. The night of the accident is a blur, with no memories remaining of what had happened. Without her mother and her father, she's sent to live with her Grandmother for the entirety of the summer. A new place, new people..a new chance to heal?

This story is heartbreaking and poignant, and is a wonderful read.

Though the story is developing quite slowly and read more like her day to day working at the kitchen while staying with her grandmother without us actually discovering the entirety of what happens (bits here and there- we know its a car crash, her sister is dead and she have a big scar on her face… aswell as Mia blaming herself for the wrong turn her family took) – I kinda like this!

With the little pieces we get every so often, I was quite eager to find the big picture and what actually happened. Is it that bad that what she thinks? Is she really to blame??

The friendship between Mia & Fig’s friends, aswell as the Relationship between the Brunelli family is really well made! Every one within the circle of friends are all broken in their own way, while always supporting each other! Wether it’s through a bad news, or just sharing their love of art. As for the Brunelli’s, they strongly believe that family is family no matter what happens, and are truly a sign of unconditional love; going as far as adopting Mia as one of theirs.

Though the novel in itself isn’t about the abuse or trauma in itself, it is about how each person may grieve differently; Not only Mia, but all of Fig’s friends have something to grieve of… And how it’s okay to keep on living, aswell as open up to others and turning towards the future.

Mia is still healing from the car crash that took her sister's life and tore apart family. Left with scars both physical and emotional, and a family more fractured than her face, she's shipped off to live with the grandmother she's never met. Her mother is gone. Her father can't even look at her. And Mia... well, Mia can't forgive herself, either.

With new friends, new possibilities, and her trusty old camera, Mia begins a journey of healing, forgiveness, and finally remembering exactly what happened the night her sister died.

I *loved* this book. The characters, the plot, everything. But my favorite, hands down, was Fig. Fig, then her family, then Mia, and then the romance. In that order!

This was solid YA, and an interesting story. The author tackled the heavy subject matter thoughtfully, and the main character was relatable, as were many of the supporting characters. It was a quick and engaging read. But the thing that I got stuck on was how many of the plot points and relationships were underdeveloped. A lot of things seemed very rushed or very convenient or just generally inexplicable. Mia and Cooper kiss twice and suddenly she’s made huge emotional leaps forward and feels way better about everything despite not even having a therapist to help her process her trauma. Mia’s mom, who by all accounts was a loving and happy mother, gives up after Rachel’s death, relinquishes her parental rights, and becomes a nun. Veronica is a stiff, standoffish, manners-obsessed grandmother who also leaves Mia almost entirely alone and very quickly becomes loving and supportive with almost no growing pains. Mia shows up in New York and immediately bonds with a group of wonderful teenager friends who are constantly doing amazing things with their time and make the most of what the city has to offer every single day. It was just too much suspension of disbelief for me, and in a lot of ways people’s decisions and behavior just never made sense. In a weird way, even though the subject matter was heavy and Mia had a lot of trauma around the accident, it was like... there was very little other, more regular angst in her life, and what was there was presented at a very superficial level. This was an interesting concept and a grabby read, but it could have gone a lot deeper and been much more relatable.