*received for free from netgalley for honest review* this is the first book like this i have ever read, it was very touching and emotional. Great read.

This book hit home for me as I too experienced a miscarriage. The author uses her writing to describe the pain, loss, grief, turmoil and healing. It was a very emotional and thought provoking story. I liked Cassidy and felt connected to her. I listened to the audiobook and give thanks to Dreamscape Media and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Raw, visceral, real! This book is for anyone who has experienced infertility, infant loss or miscarriage. Highly relatable and utterly emotional. I was completely invested in this couple's journey to work through their grief and loss. Really appreciated that the story was told from multiple POVs, not just the mother's. Great on audio. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!!

This is a beautifully written book about a difficult reality for many. The loss of a pregnancy. In What We Cary, we get to learn and walk along side Cassidy and Owen. A heartbreaking story of a couple who experience this loss. This book is powerful It’s a must read for anyone facing fertility. I listened to the audiobook. It was so powerful at times I had to take a break. Very emotional and real.

Thanks Netgalley and Alcove Press for my copy of the audiobook in exchange of an honest review

Well-written exploration of grief and pregnancy loss. "What We Carry" is a strong debut in women's fiction. The audio production is seamless and the narration supports the emotional depth Fogarty brings to the prose.

What We Carry is a brutally forthcoming novel about grief. Trigger warning to those that have experienced the loss of a baby or child. Too often, novels skirt around difficult subjects but Fogarty hits it head on in this book. Cassidy and Owen are a successful couple. When their first pregnancy ends in a loss at twenty weeks, the couple goes through a difficulty time coping with it. Both Owen and Cassidy struggle in their own ways. The story explores grief through the lens of a mother, father, extended family members, and friends and acquaintances. After reading this, it is easy to see how many marriages fail after child loss. It also highlights the various ways others respond to a person’s loss. Very well written.
***A huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

(Thank you to Alcove Press for my gifted audiobook review copy.)
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I love books that make us feel less alone, and those can be fiction or nonfiction. What I have found is that the burdens of life can feel a bit lighter when we carry them together. While we may not experience the same hardships or challenges, our stories can connect us, and remind us that we are not alone.
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What We Carry encompasses the complexities of infertility and motherhood, and is described as "a novel born of the author's own loss and grief, about how one can overcome tragedy through bravery and self-discovery." ⁣
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The characters are layered and imperfect, and this fiction novel moved me so much that I still am thinking about it today. The narration was perfect paced and I enjoyed this one on audio so much. 5/5

This is a deeply moving and invaluable depiction of the realities of infertility and the pain of recurrent miscarriage. What We Carry by Kalyn Fogarty is a novel but it reads like a true story, like a memoir or autobiography. There are multiple points of view that give the story a depth and breadth that is unusual for this type of story. As someone who has experienced similar devastating losses, I truly appreciated the raw nature of this story. I highly recommend this book and especially for anyone wanting to learn more about how to help others grieve.

What We Carry is a beautiful yet heart breaking story about one woman’s journey to motherhood. Cassidy Morgan is a successful equine veterinarian. Married to the love of her life. Cassidy and Owen appear to have it all. But the one thing Cassidy wants more then anything is to be a mother. Cassidy is ecstatic when she becomes pregnant but at 20 weeks looses her baby. Cassidy and her husband are devastated, and the loss of their baby tears them apart. Unable to cope, Cassidy throws herself into her work and pushes everyone away and desperately tries to suppress her emotions. Eventually Cassidy finds her way back to Owen and they rebuild their marriage and are stronger then ever. Cassidy and Owen decide to start trying for another baby and after a few trials and tribulations, their Rainbow baby, Lily is born.

While What We Carry, is a beautiful and well written story, it was a complicated story for me to read. I have personally suffered a miscarriage and I know so many women who have had miscarriages and still births. So reading the story brought up a lot of emotions I haven’t thought about in a long time. I think Kalyn Fogarty eloquently captures the struggles of women suffering from pregnancy loss and pregnancy after a loss.

I would highly recommend reading What We Carry. Thank you to NetGalley, Kalyn Fogarty and Alcove Press for my audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The author treats the subject matter with such empathy and respect (TW: miscarriage, stillbirth). The emotions seem to drip from the pages like tears. I had to take many breaks in reading since it was heavy subject material. Really sad book. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me access to the audio book version of this book.

While the subject matter may be triggering for some (miscarriage, stillbirth), I was truly impressed with the way the author captured the feelings that come with such a loss. Kalyn Fogarty manages to take us through the feelings of hope, grief, pain, loss, shame, fear, loneliness, and everything in-between. She found a way to put into words the kind of things a mom (and dad) go through, eventually bringing us back around to hope, albeit a timid hope, but hope, nonetheless.
Having suffered a miscarriage myself before my first child was born, I can honestly say Fogarty hit every nail on the head. I think this book would have helped me heal if I'd come across it back then.

Wow, this was VERY heavy in miscarriage and infertility. Definitely needs a trigger warning for all who have experienced as it was VERY sad and detailed. While it did provide perspectives of both the husband and wife, it was truly too much.

This one I listened to on audio complements of Netgalley and Dreamscape Media. And I wasn’t even 15 minutes into the book, when the crocodile tears started. I have never experienced a more intimate description of a womans pain and loss during her pregnancy , or the grief that you experience when you lose a child at any age, than I did in this book. Kalyn Fogarty, you have a gift with your words. The whole
book was heard, seen, and deeply felt by your reader.

While the story centers around a couple that lost their child halfway through their pregnancy, What We Carry is so much more than the memory of carrying a child inside you.

There’s so many things that we carry, our own emotions, past memories, hopes for the future, the emotions of others, the responsibility and obligations towards others, etc.
This book addresses all of those through multiple perspectives as family members deal with love, loss, celebration, and finding themselves and every step of life. Every
experience in our life affects us in one way or another, what is the choice of how we will carry that experience with us. So beautifully written.

This book has sensitive topics such as infertility, miscarriage, and grief. However in it there’s something every person can relate to.

This is a great story about grief & moving forward from a loss. I am childfree by choice so I cannot relate to the desire of motherhood at all, but I was empathetic to the character's emotions. I don't think there needed to be so many POVs, just Cassidy & her husband would have been enough.

I listened to the audiobook of What We Carry by Kalyn Fogarty. The book dealt with the painful loss associated with miscarriage. It was well narrated by Kathe Mazur, Xe Sands, Holter Graham and Kitty Hendrix. What We Carry was a character driven book with a thought provoking and absorbing plot. It was based on the author’s own experience with miscarriage. Miscarriage tends to be a topic that is rarely discussed. It often brings about the feeling of shame and uneasy feelings with it including guilt and an assortment of emotions that could even be life altering. Statistics reflect that one in every four women sufferer from a miscarriage. That is staggering! Often the emotions that accompany a miscarriage are suppressed and can result in depression or other mental health issues. Kalyn Fogarty examined all the aspects of miscarriage in her book, What We Carry.

Cassidy and Owen Morgan were happily married and had good career oriented jobs. They balanced each other. Cassidy was intelligent, a planner, depended on the logic of science, an oldest child and a veterinarian. She had decided to specialize in horses. Owen was more lay back and had the easy going personality of a boy who grew up in Kansas. He was running his own construction company and trying to make it more successful. Both Cassidy and Owen felt that the time was right to start a family. Soon Cassidy and Owen discovered that they were expecting a child. Cassidy made sure to do everything right by eating healthy and taking good care of herself. Nothing could have prepared either Cassidy or Owen for the terrible loss they were about to suffer when Cassidy miscarried at 20 weeks. Cassidy and Owen grieved separately. Both Cassidy and Owen needed each other but could not find the words to relate their needs to one another. As a result, they grew more and more distant from each other. Especially Cassidy was feeling like she did something wrong and blamed herself for the miscarriage. She even began to question her ability to be a good mother. Would Cassidy and Owen be able to find their way back to one another? Could they get past this tragic loss and see a future that included a baby?

It was comforting to realize that this tragedy was not limited to Cassidy. As Cassidy met other mothers who had suffered miscarriages she was surprised how openly they could talk about their losses. These women wore their emotions on their sleeves. They mourned for their losses, would never forget their unborn children but were able to move on. Through these new encounters, Cassidy began to heal and open herself up. She started to include Owen in the healing process. As they both unburdened all the emotions that they had kept suppressed within themselves, they were finally able to grieve together, heal and move on together. Would their future hold the dream of a full term healthy baby? What We Carry played on all my emotions. It was well written and explored such a relevant topic in both a tragic and uplifting way. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, LLC through Netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was so sad. I felt so bad for Cassidy!!! Cassidy became pregnant and ended up having a stillborn birth at 16 weeks. The image of this little boy was heartwrenching as she held him and said a goodbye that was much too soon.

I have had two miscarriages yet mine were early on so I could not begin to imagine having to give birth to a deceased child. This poor family had to go through such pain and grief. As she was healing her mother was pretty terrible and it really frustrated me. But, she persevered and was able to mend her relationship with her husband and she grew more through this.

Such an amazing story. So sad. So well written and researched. Great bits of info throughout to build knowledge.

What’s the last book that made you cry?

For me it’s What We Carry by Kalyn Fogarty.
TW: infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth.

This novel is beautiful. It’s heartbreaking, inspiring, moving, and real. Cassidy Morgan is a woman with a plan: career, marriage, family. When the Morgans lose their baby boy at 20 weeks, grief threatens to overtake everything. Cassidy is still struggling when she becomes pregnant again, and the joy over this baby is dampened by the fear of another loss.

What We Carry is born of Kalyn’s own loss and highlights how tragedy can be overcome with a whole lot of love and understanding. I cried, I laughed, I felt all the things. This novel dropped Tuesday August 10; I listened to the audio version and plan on adding a copy to my shelves.
🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴 five stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

What we Carry by Kalyn Fogarty is an emotional, heart wrenching story of reliance and loss. This novel is about a couple who lose a child to a second trimester miscarriage. It's told from four different perspectives, including those of Cassidy and Owen, the couple who loses the baby, as well as Cassidy's sister Claire and her mother, Joan.

Cassidy and Owen are your typical married couple, who are having trouble getting pregnant. After finally succeeding, Cassidy ends up miscarrying after 20 weeks. We follow these four characters as they process and grieve the loss, trying to figure out how to move on.

I want to start by saying that this book was extremely well written. The characters were believable and the struggles they experienced felt real. I have to give this book four stars for the writing and plot. That being said, this book just wasn't for me. I was bored with the story as it didn't move quickly enough. This was more of a character study than a plot driven story. So, if you're looking for something with a complex storyline, this one isn't for you.

As for the narration, it was fantastic. I enjoy audiobooks with multiple narrators, and this one had four different narrators, one for each perspective. It actually helped me get through the book.

This one gets four stars, not because I enjoyed the story, but because it was incredibly well done and I really wanted to like it.

There are many moments in this book that are truly beautiful. And the interplay of voices providing different perspectives on the events and the nature of motherhood are well done. But subtlety and simplicity are not the book's strong suit; in the end, for example, it feels like we're being hammered over the head by a pretty direct summary of the themes. This happened a few times and to me reduced the impact of the novel overall.

3.5 stars. “It’s what we carry together that is everything”. Trigger warnings: infertility and miscarriage.
These characters were so relatable! The author wrote so well that I felt what they felt. And the ending had me in tears because it reminded me of my own delivery with my sons. I just wanted to go hug them. The only negative for me was the slow pace. I usually finish books in 1-2 days and this one took me 3-4 days to finish (because I lost interest mid way through). Overall, I feel like it was well written and told a story that I think women can relate to.