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. There were some choices that the narrator made, one specific character’s voice, that got on my nerves. ALC was provided by RB Media /Recorded Books via NetGalley. I received an audiobook listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Caravan. A place for monstrous, inhuman creatures to find a home with others just like them; a traveling found family. At least, until one morning when five teenagers with a complicated history wake up to find that everyone else in the Caravan has disappeared overnight. It's up to them to work together to try to solve the mystery of what happened, but the truth but be something none of them are ready to face.

This is a super complicated book for me to review, just like all of H.E. Edgmon's books have tended to be. I think it always comes down to a case of "this is a perfect book - for someone else" or "this book is amazing - for my students." The reality is that I didn't vibe with it at all, and found myself downright frustrated right by at times to the point that I probably would have DNF'ed it if I were reading it for myself. The perspective shifts so often that it was hard to get attached to any one character, and none of them are particularly likable - or have any revealing chapters that make them overly redeemable, sadly. But, I know a lot of my students who absolutely WILL dig this book, who will pick it up and devour it in a single sitting because it's just so quirky and dark. It has a wide diversity of characters that has always appealed to my classroom readers, and that is more meaningful than any opinion I might personally have as a reader.

(Vico Ortiz is perfect as a narrator and I would like to hear them narrate all of the things from now on please. Catching the edits between the audiobook and the ebook were also delightful!)

This book was fantastic, and not at all what I expected. Through the viewpoint of each of these extraordinary characters, I re-experienced many ordinary broken feelings that are a part of the human experience. Loving these characters and aching for their acceptance was cathartic, and felt a little bit like forgiving myself for the times I’ve felt unloved and alone. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider looking and and wished to be a part of something greater than themselves.

I’m not quite sure what to say about this one. I loved the whole premise, the characters were interesting and pretty distinct, the writing was solid, and I adored the narration. Yet, the actual execution of the story itself was lacking. I’m not sure I can explain exactly how or why. While I can see why the author set up the story like they did, the confusing effect of the timeline and mystery went beyond giving that exact effect, and instead it seemed to sort of lose its way. I was more confused than I was supposed to be, I think.

There was certainly lots to love, and the concept is really clever. It just didn’t quite pull it off. Sometimes I just felt dumb, so maybe it’s entirely a me-thing.

Felix was my favorite character. It was a lot of fun to get his POV plenty throughout. Surprisingly, the ending actually made me cry. I wasn’t expecting that.

Maybe eyeball reading this book would improve some of the confusion, but the narration was a big part of my enjoyment, so I’m not sure what’s ‘best’. I certainly recommend listening to the book narrated by the talented Vico Ortiz if you’re planning on reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for this audio ARC.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this eARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review!

This was the first book by H.E. Edgmon that I've read and I'll definitely try out their other books. The writing was good. There were times that the flow between the different POVs didn't work for me but that's just me.

I still enjoyed the outcast character group and the queer rep!

Ohhhh, this is one you'll be turning over in your head for a while. It's the sort of narrative that unfurls slowly as you're putting pieces together (there are some bits that the narrator would break the fourth-wall and admit they were purposefully keeping secrets that I felt was unnecessary, both the wall-breaking and the actual secret-keeping itself - most of the secrets could have been elided against like you would in thought rather than the very obvious "there's something you don't know"), and by the time the horror has fully crept up on you, it's too late.

H.E. Edgmon's writing is both visceral and fairytale-like in that way that feels like a quiet dark forest that fits perfectly for this group of teens lost in the woods and trying to figure out where to go and if they even want to be found. Their writing has jagged edges that match the edges of trauma each of the characters has had sharpened by their situations and while it took me a bit to get into the rhythm of it, it matches perfectly with the sort of story this is.

There's so much I wish could have been expanded on, but wouldn't have made sense given the scope and ultimate end of the story, but I would love to see more from Edgmon in this world.

I do have to lower my rating for the audiobook, as while Ortiz is a near-perfect narrator for all of the kids, there were a number of editing choices I didn't particularly enjoy. The decision to do every sentence of the "whispers" was the most egregious to me - in text, you eyes can skim over repetitive text, the impact is in the layout, not the actual repetition. Two to three minutes of the same line whispered just made me want to give up, especially since this was something that happened three times in the book and got longer each time (along with the fear that it would happen once to each character, so I was dreading it happening again, which was not the sort of dread I was here for). It was also extremely apparent when the re-recordings were done, as the audio quality was noticeably different, and as at times the switch was mid-sentence, it ended up being very jarring.

This review is for the audio version, which was narrated by Vico Ortiz. Their recitation was outstanding. They brought life (ironically) to these characters. Each had their own unique voice and manner of speech that made it easy to follow who was who as I listened along. It was very well done.

5 teens wake up one morning to find that everyone in their tiny community that they refer to as "The Caravan", has vanished. With nothing left behind but the RVs and Vehicles, they set off looking for some sign of their families and friends. They are wary about asking for help though, as they're not entirely passing as human.

Each one of these teens, their families, and friends are some sort of fae or monster, with no memory of their lives before coming to live in the Caravan. Their identities aren't the only secrets they're trying to keep. Each of them has a past that isn't exactly clear to the others, and in some cases, themselves.

This was decent. Going in, after the initial disclaimer at the start of the book, I wasn't sure that I'd like it, but I was quickly drawn in by these characters and their stories.

All of these characters are damaged, living insulated lives, looked after by other damaged people, in a kind of cult (seriously there's some messed up stuff going on there), but they were characters that seemed easy to empathize with.

The pacing wavered a bit here and there, but the story overall didn't suffer much for it, at least for me.

Definitely check out the disclaimer at the beginning before committing to this book. If you think you can make it though, it's a good read.

i tired so hard to listen to this but just couldn't push myself to suffer through this.

thankful i got the audio arc