Welcome to Litsy!

Books about death are never elegant. This one was.
Books can never get the spectrum of emotion down correctly on the page. This one did.
Books are often one dimensional, from one perspective. Neither was the case here.
Raw with emotion from every person left reeling after the accidental shooting death of Miah. The year after follows Miah witnessing the awe encompassing grief of his girlfriend, parents, family & friends. The healing...

“Even if you turn your back on the world you left, you're still pulled toward it, you're still turning around--always--to look behind you. To make sure everyone's okay.”

“And remember.”

I knew I had to read this after finishing If You Come Softly. I thought this follow-up/companion book was okay. There‘s sadness & also hope, & how an incident can connect unexpected people in beautiful ways.

Sequel to If You Come Softly. Just as beautiful, if not more, as the first one. Woodson has the perfect touch, tone, and lyrical nuances to continue the story of Ellie, Jeremiah, their parents, and Jeremiah‘s grieving friends.

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
#authoramonth2021 @Soubhiville

7000 less people on Goodreads have read this sequel than the first in the series, If You Come Softly. They are missing out. The first was a tearjerker but this is even more so. Woodson captures grief in the year after a great loss like I didn‘t know a young adult novel could.

4.5/5⭐ A stunningly beautiful, complex exploration of how the grief from a single event ripples out and affects so many people. It's not often I spend the majority of a book in tears. #blackathon #contemporaryathon #projectSAMS

Really captures some of the complexity of grieving.