This is an incredible book!! The cover is so lovely and this tale is harrowing, full of painful, real moments.

I didn't realise how much this book would really affect me, but it was so raw and beautiful and broken my heart into a million pieces.

It was so heartfelt & realistic and I loved it.

Unfortunately this was a DNF.
I didn't DNF because I wasn't enjoying it, not by any means, but instead it just wasn't the right time for me to read it as I fell into a massive slump. However I'm definitely going to pick this back up again at some point in the future as I have so far enjoyed what I have read.

The Words We Keep is relatable, real and heart felt. It will resonate in some way with every reader who picks it up to read.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say, this is one of my new favourite novels. It cut me deeper than I would have thought, made me cry harder than I expected to and made my heart so full but heart so deeply. I think that is what shows the rawness, the intensity, of the the book and the utter talent of the author.

I have read a lot of YA over the years. A lot. Tons. So it always surprises me when I am so moved by a book that after I have finished I want someone else to read it so I can talk to them about it that very second. That was how I felt when I read The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart.

The story is about a family who are falling apart at the seams but are keeping themselves together with plasters and selotape. Lily, our protagonist is trying desperately to hold her family together. She is dealing with her own mental health problems alongside being a teenager, falling in love, trying to be the perfect student among other things and it is getting too much for her. The Words We Keep is the story of the individual struggle that a person can have and the need to find someone who can help.

Issues surrounding mental health are dealt with so unflinchingly that it is hard to read at times - not due to the writing I must say but because you care so much for the characters and you can see things from several perspectives even though it is a one voice narrative.

The Words We Keep is an absolutely wonderful read.

The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart is available now.

For more information regarding Erin Stewart (@Erin_N_Stewart) please visit www.erinstewartbooks.com.

For more information regarding Simon YA (@simonYAbooks) please visit www.simonandschuster.co.uk.

After reading the authors debut novel I couldn't wait to start reading The Words We Keep. This story is from Lily's perspective as she tries to deal with keeping herself and her family together after her sisters time away due to self harm. Once Alice returns life isn't back to the old normal and Lily ends up feeling very alone.

When I started this book I found it quite slow and it didn't make me want to keep reading but from around fifty pages in I didn't want to put the book down. The way this book tackles difficult subjects is great as it really helps you understand how each of the characters must be feeling and it's particularly good that we get to see how Lily feels as a result of her sisters and friends mental health as well as her own.

The way poems are used in the story is a lovely way to show us how Lily was feeling when she feels she can't share it herself whilst also fitting in perfectly with the story. This book seems very realistic as to the challenges there would be within a household with mental health struggles and because of this I feel it could be triggering for some readers with themes of self harm, bipolar, anxiety, depression and suicide. Whilst this is a long list it is written in a way that's not too overwhelming and really makes you think about what it would be like to live with or with someone who experiences these.

This was not always an easy read but it is a fantastic book that really makes you think. This may be too triggering a book for some but it's a very good book.

I received an Arc from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

THIS BOOK… it’s definitely left me an emotional wreck. All the tears streaming down my face for the last 15 minutes of it.

As someone who had a family member have a nervous breakdown and be hospitalised at the start of this year, I applaud the message of this book: you don’t need fixing because you are not broken.

Please, please read this book. You won’t regret it.

TW: attempted suicide, self harm, mental health disorders, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, depression

A thoughtful and authentic portrayal of a teen struggling with anxiety and perfection, after her sister leaves a treatment facility for being bipolar. There’s swoony romance, complicated family dynamics, and unforgettable poetry. You’ll want to keep every word. This book feels like such an authentically written dive into mental illness and the stigma surrounding it, where art and poetry are used as a coping mechanism.

I literally could not put this book down. It’s thoughtfully written, full of insight and compelling. I can’t begin to tell you how great this book is!

This is an important book for Young Adults that focuses on suicide, mental health and friendship. It was so well written with characters that I fell in love with and a good story. I really liked it.

Thank you @netgalley @simonkidsuk @erin_n_stewart for the free e arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The words we keep is written beautifully. Especially the small details like change in font to emphasize something and stuff like lists and texts. They make a good difference in the story for me. The prose is poetic and its easy to fall into the rhythm of the story. The chapters were short and crisp (short chapters >>>> long chapters)

Two things that stood out to me were

1. The guerilla poetry project. I loved loved loved reading about it. It just made me so happy. Like Mrs. Gifford (Lily's English teacher) said "just wonderful". I write poems to express myself and I felt deeply connected to the whole project. it just touched home.

2. Micah. OH.MY.GOD. Thank god it wasn't another alpha dude bro love interest. If any artsy boy who wears neon sunglasses, socks and smiley faced sweatshirts wanna help me find my muse? sign me the fuck up.

One little thing that I felt off was the pacing of the book. But it didn't overshadow my whole reading experience so it wasn't that big a bother.
It will be published on 15/03/22. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a good mental health rep. TW: suicide attempt, anxiety disorder and depression.

Instagram Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZdwTpkvpAm/?utm_medium=copy_link
Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4523073139

Lily found her older sister Alice on the bathroom floor after cutting herself with a razor. Alice was taken to an inpatient facility for months and Lily lied to her friends about where her sister was. Then a new boy starts at Lily's school who was in hospital with her sister and she's worried he'll reveal the truth. This is a bold YA novel that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to addressing mental health and stigma. I thought this was a great read and informative about less common mental health conditions.

So I finished this the other day and I honestly don’t know how to feel about it. On the one hand, I could see the path the author was going for and I appreciated her trying to tackle a different perspective on mental health, on the other, it felt like this author was trying <i>too hard</i> to be inspiring, too hard to make this book something it’s not.

- the writing was good but flowery at times and I didn’t connect to the poetry part as much as I wanted to.
- I liked the characters but I wish we got more interaction between the sisters as I feel like this is where the story truly lies.
- the pacing was fine and the plot - although predictable, was executed nicely and I felt the ending finished the beginning.
- I didn’t really care for the romance but it was there. so there’s that.

Overall, this was a fine book for a teenage audience and it had some nice moments.
<i>I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you to Netgally for the advance copy in exchange for a review.
I really enjoyed reading this book right from the beginning, I was hooked almost instantly and didn’t want to stop reading. I liked the story as a whole and think it has an important message for everyone, but especially teens and young adults. Even though some of Lilys choices in this annoyed me, I found that I still liked all the main characters. I personally found Lily and Alice particularly relatable and one part was so relatable to me, I even found myself with tears running down my face. I would definitely love to see this book be turned into a movie and think it would be a hit, with a powerful, important message to share with the world. One other thing I found particularly enjoyable also was the poems that were in the book which the characters wrote, I feel like this was something a little different and they were really good. This book will have you on an emotional rollercoaster, sometimes happy, heartbreaking and inspiring. This is definitely one of my favourite fictions I’ve read and it was brilliantly wrote. The only suggestion I’d have was that this book would be the perfect storyline to be wrote from different perspectives. Alternating chapters maybe but other then that, amazing book and would highly recommend. The author wrote “You don’t fix you, because you are not broken. You are already whole, even if you need help. And you are not alone.” This resonated on a personal level and I’m sure this alone will make a difference to so many people out there struggling who might read this.