When I heard this was a poetically written book about mental health, I had to read it! I’m so excited to be part of the TBR & Beyond tour for this book. Find the full tour schedule here.
About the book
The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publishing Date: March 15, 2022
Synopsis:
A beautifully realistic, relatable story about mental health and the healing powers of art–perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces and How it Feels to Float.
It’s been three months since The Night on the Bathroom Floor–when Lily found her older sister Alice hurting herself. Ever since then, Lily has been desperately trying to keep things together, for herself and for her family. But now Alice is coming home from her treatment program and it is becoming harder for Lily to ignore all of the feelings she’s been trying to outrun.
Enter Micah, a new student at school with a past of his own. He was in treatment with Alice and seems determined to get Lily to process not only Alice’s experience, but her own. Because Lily has secrets, too. Compulsions she can’t seem to let go of and thoughts she can’t drown out.
When Lily and Micah embark on an art project for school involving finding poetry in unexpected places, she realizes that it’s the words she’s been swallowing that desperately want to break through.
Book Review
*Trigger warning: mental health issues, including discussion of suicide attempts*
Author Erin Stewart takes a raw, thought-provoking look into the mind of a teen struggling with anxiety.
Her sister Alice’s suicide attempt has sent Lily’s anxiety soaring, bringing thoughts that she compares to monsters in her head. Lily’s trying to hold it all together in a family where she feels like she needs to be perfect, while worrying that she’s going crazy herself. She focuses on her dream of attending Berkley while working to make the state championship for track.
But when she gets paired with rumor-mill fodder new student Micah in a poetry project, she finds out that he knew Alice from their joint treatment facility. Despite her wariness, Micah’s quirky socks and his hot takes on topics like coloring books keep almost convincing her to give him a chance. When Alice returns home, Lily finds herself creatively blocked, and Micah offers to help her find her muse.
This book is at its best as the guerilla poets try to come grips with their struggles through poetry and art, and it quickly grows into a school-wide project where teens anonymously share the truth they are afraid to say out loud. Lily’s poems are powerful, and her peers’ additions make them sing.
Lily, Micah and Alice all have different mental health conditions, which the author treats with sensitivity. Even though other characters are mean to them at times, the main three try to always have each other’s backs, and the author both takes their struggles seriously and shows how much more they are than their diagnoses. I also love how supportive and loving Lily and Alice’s dad is.
Micah’s got the patience of a saint as he waits for Lily to be willing to act on her feelings for him. Micah’s the brooding and sensitive hero who’s open and up front about his struggles with depression and anger, which led to him being kicked out of his last school. He’s the perfect pairing for Lily, as the two of them can help pull the other one up.
But Lily has to find out just how far she’ll spiral before she admits she needs help.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
About the author
Erin Stewart is the author of SCARS LIKE WINGS, her debut novel. Erin is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern and a BYU undergraduate who works as a freelance writer and editor, as well as a weekly columnist in Salt Lake City.
Erin lives in Utah with her husband and three children. She is represented by the amazing Rebecca Sherman of Writers House.
