We Can Never Leave by H.E. Edgmon was a great contemporary fantasy.
This book is such an adventure. And so enthralling you forget that you’re reading.
I’ve enjoyed this authors previous work and this was no different.

This book… was not for me. I wanted to love it so bad: a queer, fantasy, mystery book is right up my alley. But it completely fell flat. Let me rephrase: this book is not for me, but there are going to be a lot of other people who enjoy it. This review is going to be a little painful, but I feel I need to be honest when dissecting it. I am so sorry.

Writing: Almost immediately after starting the book, the writing style slapped me in the face. It reminded me of a high schooler trying to reach word count on an essay— the author COULD have used one word, but chose to spread it out to 8 instead. It was unnecessarily flowery and drawn out. Great vocabulary, and you can tell the author is brilliant, but it felt like it tried too hard. The author switches occasionally to second person point of view in Felix’s chapters, which really takes you out of the story.

Plot: What plot? Stuff happened the first 5% of the book and the last 5% of the book, and absolutely nothing happened in between. The book was comprised of 5 characters who couldn’t decide if they wanted to murder or kiss each other, so they fought the entire time. It was almost exhausting how repetitive the infighting was. I knew where it was going from the start, but I didn’t know the HOW, so that was nice to have the reveal that I didn’t see coming.

Characters: This was split for me. I LOVED Cal. I really enjoyed Bird and Eamon. But Hugo was a massive bully with no redeeming qualities. Felix had the personality of an 8 year old, but was supposed to be 16?! Completely stunted character. I did find myself rooting for the first 3 I mentioned, which helped.

Likes: Other than the 3 characters, I very much enjoyed the premise and the ending. The ending brought it up from 1.75 to 2.5 for me, and the very last line actually made me want to read what happens next, even though I didn’t vibe with the rest of the book.

I feel like I was very harsh with this review, but like I said: I am not the intended audience. If you have any concerns when reading this that match what I’m saying, at least you know you’re not alone. But otherwise, you might really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very conflicting for me. I think the author is very smart and likes to write about dark subject matter, but the prose sometimes comes off as too pretentious and meta. I would sum the premise of this book up as Left Behind, as told by the cast of Sweet Tooth. The characters were very unlikeable (intentionally so, I believe) and it was frustrating to read about them having crushes on each other while also wanting to kill each other, but that kind of speaks to the complex feelings teenagers go through, especially when raised in such a cult-like environment as these kids. The magic system was somewhat confusing and could have been illustrated a little more clearly. Basically all the characters have a non-human trait, but also a special power, but those powers are rarely brought up until it becomes important to the plot.

The main characters were raised in a Caravan to protect them from the outside world. It took about two-thirds of the book for me to understand that this book is an allegory for kids raised in religious cults. In many books, the nonhuman creatures are allegories for the oppressed, so it was a genius move to flip that on its head and question why these people are isolating themselves and how that hurts these kids. The title is also very impactful; when you are raised in such a traumatizing way, you can never leave-- your experiences follow you wherever you go and touches every corner of your life, from new friends you try to make, to your family begging you to return to the fold.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a really unique and interesting story. Both the fantasy and horror/mystery elements of this story were intriguing. My only negative was that I wish it had been a bit longer so that the story could have a bit more detail, especially regarding the ending.

We Can Never Leave is a story with good characters, a unique plot and pretty good writing. There was nothing that I didn't really dislike but I still felt I was a little lost throughout the story. Maybe I missed something? Maybe I'm just not the target audience? A good fantasy YA with a good mystery to solve.

I definitely need to re-read this book soon because the ending was incredible. It took me a while to get into it, but H.E. Edgmon's writing is as beautiful as always and the world they created in "We Can Never Leave" is fascinating.

Blunt, plain prose, feels needlessly secretive, and I’m not even slightly interested in pinging back and forth between Before and Now, especially when Before gives me such important insight as one of these kids not knowing what pokemon is.

I should care why???

There’s no content warnings in the arc and I’m not interested in the fate of a community that ATE one of their kids.

But also, it’s taking forever to get anywhere and the bickering teenagers with all their naveI-gazing introspection are just plain boring. That makes We Can Never Leave a huge change for Edgmon, because their previous books have had excellent pacing, and were never boring. Whereas We Can Never Leave feels like it’s being needlessly secretive, refusing to tell the reader anything at all Just Because; it doesn’t come across as mysterious, just deeply annoying. Edgmon’s previous books all had vivid characters we were given reasons to care about almost immediately; not the case here, where they all seem defined by one or two traits max and are not interesting or sympathetic. Your characters don’t have to be both, but they do need to be one or the other!

And so I’m numb to it, which is making me bored and frustrated. I’ll happily check out Edgmon’s future books, but I’m tapping out of this one.

This advanced copy was provided by Wednesday Books, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 30%

After reaching the 30% mark, I decided this book wasn't for me. I don't like any of the characters and I am having a hard time wanting to read this.

I really appreciate the author's note in the beginning. I think this book will definitely find its readers, I'm just not one of them. I will, however, read the other books H.E. Edgmon has written!

THIS WAS SO GOOD. So this is another book that I think needs to say it's a horror, because it is. The description says it's fantasy because of the paranormal, but really this is a horror/paranormal mystery. I was so surprised by the ending and had to look back afterwards to see what Is missed.

Sometimes inhuman kids wake up with amnesia and magic powers, and the Caravan comes along to take them in and protect them from humans who would try to harm them. One day, five teens wake up to find that all the adults have been raptured in the night. Who's left? The golden prodigal child who recently came home, their angry ex, the ex's innocent little brother, a scary girl with sharp teeth, and a scary boy that creeps everyone out. These five kids have to figure out what happened, while battling their own demons and hatreds.

This is definitely a book about religious trauma (hello, fear of everyone but you getting Raptured!!?) in a cult. We have an omniscient narrator who hides things, and every character has their own secrets. Lots of flashbacks to the past, and I realized on a reread that several were about the mom.

I really, really liked this book and will definitely have to buy a copy now that it's out.

CW for cannibalism, child abuse, death, mental illness, child neglect

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC.

A dark and twisty exploration of religious trauma, gender, found family (or at least, attempts to find your family), the feeling of "otherness" that can come with adolescence, and unreliable narrators. I never really got a sense of where this was leading, and I think the experience was better for it. Some readers may find it difficult to stick with this back and forth shifting narrative, and I'm not sure the clues were really there for the twist ending, but the character exploration alone is worth the journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't get a chance to read this one before it came out, but I have no doubt that HE Edgmon wrote an amazing story once more!

I don't think I am Edgmon's intended audience. This was my second attempt at reading one of his books and once again, it did not work for me.
The plot is very, very loose. A group of teens find themselves left alone in their camp and travel to another site to find others in their group. This book is character focused, switching between different perspectives and timelines. The characters are awful to each other, and there's really none that I felt like I could connect with. There were random fourth wall breaks, trying to direct the reader but it had no where to direct me! The twist felt undeserved and went unresolved, leaving a deeply unsatisfying ending.

We Can Never Leave is the latest from H.E. Edgmon and Edgmon’s books never fail to steal a piece of my heart. When the teen members of the Caravan wake up to find themselves abandoned by their adults, they must band together to figure out what happened. Members of the Caravan are a group of magical people who stay hidden from humans. Bird, Hugo, Felix, Eamon, and Cal couldn’t be more different. Secrets, magic, and their connection to the Caravan are all that bind them together. Will they discover what truly happened and finally be able to leave?

I read this book in one sitting because I had to find out what happened next! Every member of the group felt relatable in a different way. I loved all the characters, but especially Felix and Bird. H.E. Edgmon writes themes of belonging so well: what it means to belong, to want to leave, what it means to return. The sense of spookiness and that something is wrong with the adults’ disappearance haunts the teens as they untangle the secrets that connect them. The ending was both bittersweet and perfect. I can’t wait to read what H.E. Edgmon writes next!

Thank you to H.E. Edgmon, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

The Caravan is a traveling community made up of inhuman creatures. One morning five teens wake to find the community has disappeared. Together they attempt to find out what made the other members of The Caravan disappear and possibly how they arrived in the group in the first place.

I enjoyed this book. It was slightly confusing at points but the characters really kept me going. The mystery was interesting and the outcome really got me right in the heart. The story deals with religious trauma and can get quite dark but it is worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Edgemon always writes excellent queer YA books full of longing for belonging and the exploration of personal identity, and this one is no different. I don't read a ton of YA these days, but when I do I like it to be like this: gripping and emotional, with a cast of memorable characters.

This was an interesting book. I found the concept interesting, and I can appreciate the author's writing style. While I've read a couple of other books by this author, this one is a standalone (to my knowledge) and while it does still have fantasy elements, it hits a different undercurrent if that makes sense? I think this book can have a lot of depth, addressing things and concepts with more subtle nudging than direct callouts. I think it would be important for some readers to take care and check the content warnings, as this book can get a bit dark.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the ARC!

We Can Never Leave is at it's heart a story of found family, trauma, healing, and identity. The story is told from multiple points of view and various time lines. What happened to the members of the Caravan who vanished and the five souls left behind unravels slowly (and at times confusingly) over the course of the novel.

While I found the structure at times confusing, it wasn't enough to deter me. I was fully invested in figuring out what happened to all who disappeared and understanding the forsaken five left behind and their secrets. The characters here steal the show in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and it's imprint Wednesday Books for the advance e-copy of We Can Never Leave. All thoughts expressed herein are my own.

This was such a unique premise, it's almost hard to think of comps for it. There are found-family vibes, with the five main characters who need to work together to figure out what happened with Caravan. There is a mystery, both of what is happening with the non-humans and also where the Caravan went. It was, at times, hard to keep track of who and when various chapters were occurring, as the story flipped between both POVs and timelines. To me, the most interesting part was the last quarter or so, where we really honed in on the mystery. A prequel would be really interesting to dive into where a lot of the characters came from.

This was a really hard one for me to get into and then I struggled all the way through. The premise was interesting: a group of 5 half-human teens wake up to find the adults and other members of their Caravan have completely vanished. They set off to find answers, while trying to keep their own secrets hidden. The exposition felt excessive to me without actually giving us much. It just wasn't for me. I only felt truly engaged for the last 10% of the book. 3 stars, mostly due to the ending and a few unexpected moments.

We Can Never Leave by H.E. Edgmon was confusing to me with the changing timelines and too many POVs. When the pieces started coming together, I started to enjoy it more but the fighting between characters soured my experience again. ARC was provided by Wednesday Books via NetGalley. I received an advance reading copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.