fuck !

“But knowing what you have to do and actually doing what you need to are two different things, two separate worlds.”

Liam Cooper's older brother Ethan is killed in a hit-and-run. Now, Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people he loved the most, but also face the fading relationship with his two best friends. Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, Liam finds themself sharing time with Marcus, Ethan's best friend, and through Marcus, Liam finds the one person that seems to know exactly what they're going through, for the better and the worse.

Mason Deaver is an author I've been meaning to read for a while now. All of their books are five-star predictions for me. It probably wasn't very smart to start with this one because I feel it's more heartbreaking than I Wish You All the Best, but I wanted to FEEL something!!

The Ghosts We Keep has all of my favorite sad tropes/storylines. Grief? Check! A breaking up of friendships? Check! A secret relationship that doesn't end up working out for reasons? Check! So this book just completely destroyed me.

But it was worth it!! Because every single one of these elements was so beautifully explored.

This story shows the different ways people grieve, all of which are appropriate according to the relationship they had with those who passed away. And that doesn't mean one way of grieving is more incorrect than the other, just that they're different.

I loved seeing that Liam uses he/him and they/them pronouns and how both are used throughout the story instead of just one, which is what usually happens in books for some reason.

Also loved how this story centers a non-binary character without necessarily being about their identity, but still exploring how it's tied up in his grief.

This is definitely a new fave sad YA contemporary. This month I'm FINALLY going to pick up I Wish You All the Best, and then I can officially call Mason Deaver a new fave author.