And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

And We Stay is a fast, easy read. It is about a teenage girl named, Emily who finds her self attending attending boarding school in,  Amherst after the suicide of her boyfriend.

Emily is a poet and uses her poetry to express her emotions and secrets and while this in itself is a good idea, the poetry is so poorly written it distracts from the story. A story that is filled with a variety of topics, such as grief, regret, loss and recovery.

Hubbard's characters do not pull you in emotionally however, I feel that she purposely created a distance with her characters and audience in order to make you feel, Emily's state of mind and emotions.

Hubbard does have a knack for pulling you in with details....her descriptions of the winter and the moment, Emily's boyfriend commits suicide are vivid and breathtaking.

This book takes place in1995 and is written in third person, which can be a distracting factor if you don't care for that type of format. If you have a few hours to spare, I suggest you take a chance at reading this book. You can easily skip the poetry and not miss out on anything.

Grade: B-