Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

Wish, wish I were back at the house. Or running. Anywhere but here, feeling like this. And that's just it. This is how it is. Always. To pay attention to things. People. It's too easy to fail other people. And the good-byes. You never have the time you think.

I picked up Lovely, Dark and Deep after hearing an interview with the author, Amy McNamara, on the podcast "Authors are ROCKSTARS!" On the podcast, McNamara shared about the loss that inspired her book and how different it was to move from poetry to writing Young Adult Fiction. I was immediately interested and went out to buy the book a few days later.

And of course, when I saw that gorgeous cover, there was no talking me out of it.

When Wren wakes up after the car crash that killed her boyfriend, she knows immediately that her entire life has shattered before her eyes. She retreats inside herself--the only way she knows how to cope--and pulls away from everyone. Unable to sleep soundly and prone to frequent anxiety attacks, Wren deems herself ruined. How can she ever recover from the pain inside her?

She moves in with her father in order to get away from it all and ends up meeting Cal, a sweet guy who has troubles of his own, yet can't help reaching out to her in the midst of it. She begins to have feelings for him and starts to feel happy again, but she still can't manage to shake that feeling of being trapped--like she's still stuck upside down in her seatbelt. Wren wants to learn how to deal with what has happened to her and learn to deal with other people again without hurting them. She wants to be normal again, but maybe there's no going back to normal. Maybe she has changed for good.

Written more beautifully than probably any other book I've ever read, Lovely, Dark and Deep is stunning in every detail. I couldn't help but shake my head and wish that more authors would sprinkle poetry throughout their work in the same manner as McNamara.

Everything about this book is beautiful. The title is very apt, as it perfectly fits the contents of this novel. McNamara used her own grief and her own struggle to deal with the loss of a close friend to feed the emotions portrayed within Wren's story and she does it so perfectly one can hardly remember that this is a work of fiction. I very much hope to see more YA Fiction from her in the future.

I honestly can't sing the praises of Lovely, Dark and Deep enough to do it justice. My suggestion?: Pick it up immediately!

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

"The thing about grief is that you have to let yourself feel it. Even the worst parts. Especially the worst parts. Pass through it. Let it pass through you. It's our strength--your humanity-- your openness to your feelings. Even when you think you might not come through."