We Are Okay by Nina LaCour — Book Review

People have different ways to move on from a bad incident in their lives. Some are resilient, and some are not. Each person is different from one another and has a different way of dealing with different emotions.

Such is the story of Marin. She has not spoken or even tried to contact anyone from her past life the day she left everything, the day when she lost her grandfather. No one knows what happened, how it happened, and why she went without even letting anybody know. She has tried her level best to outrun all the awkward situations that she would have faced, but it’s a rule of the universe that you can not outrun truth forever. She is currently living in the hostel dorm of her college, and as the Christmas vacations approach, everyone in her hostel is leaving, her roommate Hannah.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders crept in and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.”

And she will be left alone. Again. But she will be forced to face everything from her past because her old lost best friend, Mabel, visits her. Marin has not been in contact with Mabel since “the” incident happened. Since then both of their lives have changed a lot. And they have changed too. And things between them are not the same anymore, but Mabel just can’t give up on her best friend. And that's why she is visiting Marin.

“Each time I thought I may have understood, some line of logic snapped and I was thrust back into not knowing. It’s a dark place not knowing. It’s difficult to surrender to.”

Marin will now have to say things that were left unsaid. She will have to confront her loneliness, which has now become a comfort zone for her. She will be forced to step out of it. She would have to face and accept the bitter truths that she ran away from.

But the question that remains is, what was “the” incident that made Marin leave everything? What had happened that made her take such desperate desolate decisions? Will Marin be ready to let go of the pain and move forward in her life?

We are okay, written by Nina Lacour, is a book that will show you a new way of feeling other’s pain. The story has been written so beautifully. The plot, the writing style, everything, everything is just so heart-touching. It feels like she is telling a true story, which she might have been a part of. The emotions are so real that it is going to leave you in awe.

The book’s storyline is very basic, but the way Nina has expressed it is what makes it so beautiful and heart-touching. It makes you realize that sometimes when we are in pain, we tend to make decisions which we shouldn’t have, but it’s okay. We can’t always be right or wrong. We just do what our minds tell us to do because our hearts stop thinking when we are hurt. And it is okay to deal with the pain the way you want because no matter how anyone understands you, in the end, it is your pain. It is troubling you. And it has to be your choice to select the way you want to deal with it. But you must know one thing, everything will be okay. Slowly and Eventually.