The plot was fast paced, but jumped around a bit in ways I didn't quite understand. This meant it was a quick read though and there were no weird null points. Something was happening in every chapter.

I am in charge of the senior library and work with a group of Reading Ambassadors from 16-18 to ensure that our boarding school library is modernised and meets the need of both our senior students and staff. It has been great to have the chance to talk about these books with our seniors and discuss what they want and need on their shelves. I was drawn to his book because I thought it would be something different from the usual school library fare and draw the students in with a tempting storyline and lots to discuss.
This book was a really enjoyable read with strong characters and a real sense of time and place. I enjoyed the ways that it maintained a cracking pace that kept me turning its pages and ensured that I had much to discuss with them after finishing. It was not only a lively and enjoyable novel but had lots of contemporary themes for our book group to pick up and spend hours discussing too.
I think it's important to choose books that interest as well as challenge our students and I can see this book being very popular with students and staff alike; this will be an excellent purchase as it has everything that we look for in a great read - a tempting premise, fantastic characters and a plot that keeps you gripped until you close its final page.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Natalia Gomes wrote one of the first books I ever reviewed, Blackbird, which I loved, and so even without the comparisons to Jay Asher and John Green, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. With those comparisons, I also knew that it was not going to be an easy book to read.

We Are Not Okay is told from the multiple viewpoints of the four main characters, Sophie, Lucy, Ulana, and Trina each of whom has their own secret to hide or issue to battle. Having four such strong main characters means there was a lot crammed in to one book. Each girl’s story could fill a book on its own and while I could see why Gomes chose to weave them into the one book, at times it felt that they weren’t explored to their full potential.

Covering issues including bullying, racism, the sharing of intimate photos on social media, and teen pregnancy, We Are Not Okay is an emotional read from start to finish, and is a heartbreaking portrayal of just how quickly situations can spiral. It is a book that served as a reminder of just how glad I am not to be at school today, and also that social media and camera phones didn’t exist when I was.

We Are Not Okay is full of important messages, and I hope that it will make any teenager reading it think twice about how their actions can affect other people.

This was an enjoyable read, and it does have some important messages to everyone about bullying.

The one thing that i did take from it all is that i'm so glad that i am not still in school, as kids are just HORRID!

Told from the POV of 4 girls, this story interweaves itself with the 'growing up' of kids in high school, the bullying, fat shaming, victim shaming, slut shaming, religion shaming, and every other shaming that you can think of.

Throughout the book, i think that Ulana was the only 'grown up' in the whole bunch of the girls, and i'm so glad that social media wasn't around when i was that age!

This was a good read; well-written and necessary for the YA genre. It feels very timely. Would recommend.

I'm desperately trying to write up the reviews of all the books I've finished over the past few months before the end of the year. Hopefully, I'll keep on top of things next year!
Now this book was fantastic at tackling multiple social issues in modern society - issues that many girls and women have to deal with. Some of the main themes are teenage pregnancy, having underwear pictures leaked on the internet, rape, and disordered eating. These things aren't all experienced by one single character, but by multiple girls whose stories are intricately intertwined with one another. This book alternates between different characters' accounts/narratives, and the reader slowly pieces together the bigger picture of how they all connect.
I found it really clever how Gomes did this, actually. She managed to really accurately portray how one small action can affect so many other people. She also explored how young girls have the ability to help each other when in need and can overcome petty differences and feuds in order to tackle the real, serious issues. This is something that I think is often forgotten but should be remembered by more young women. There is often too much bitterness and dispute amongst girls in schools when we should put more effort into uniting, standing together and helping each other through difficulties.
The ending of this book was quite shocking, too, but in a sadly realistic way. I won't discuss it too much, though. I did still find it a little too neatly wrapped-up, in a way, though; not everyone responds so well, not all girls do forgive each other or become so close. Which is a shame, but it is the truth.
Overall, I'm giving this book 4 stars out of 5.

FULL REVIEW: https://wordsunfilteredbys.com/2019/12/25/we-are-not-okay/

WE ARE NOT OKAY is the type of book that reminded me why i was so happy to have left school and why i never bothered going to the school prom. it deals with so many issues faced by teens in their day-to-day lives.

it shows the problems that come with being at the top and the bottom of the food chain in the popularity game, how detrimental and damaging bullying can be, and just how toxic and dangerous social media is.

I found the book was really descriptive and slow at first and then all of a sudden everything happened at once. The ending did ruin the book for me just because it was a lot happening at once and way too fast, everybody was moving on without really addressing the issues. The Muslim representation was very typical and this made her different from the other girls, i felt like her story could have been better as it mainly focused on her helping her friend not actually her own issues.

Natália Gomes’ We Are Not Okay is “dedicated to the numerous campaigns and charities that challenge us on how we think and speak about sexual violence, bullying and feminism.” The book’s strapline reads, “Four girls. Four voices. All unheard,” and as the book unfolds we learn what this truly means.

This young adult novel tells the story of teenage four girls, attending the same school in Scotland, whose lives overlap and insect. The narrative is told through the eyes of; popular girl Lucy who points the finger at others to hide her own secret, conservative Muslim Ulana who is struggling to balance her family and school/social life, party girl Trina who did not consent to what happened at that party, and Sophia who loves her boyfriend until he betrays her trust.

These four girls aren’t all friends, in fact, some of them are even feuding enemies but soon they learn there are more important things than petty gossip and social media trolling. After unexpected events bring the characters together, they learn they have more in common than they first thought, they all feel lost, voiceless and unheard.

We Are Not Okay is a heart-breaking and cautionary tale about consent, victim blaming, bullying, mental health, and social media in the 21st century. This story of four fictional girls is a warning to readers about the real-life consequences of teenage tormenting and the possible repercussions of someone feeling unheard. It is a reminder to young readers to speak up when they feel unheard, whether it’s to a friend, family, teacher, or anyone they feel comfortable talking to.

With its gripping plotline, Natália Gomes’ We Are Not Okay successfully tackles issues of sexual abuse, consent and mental health with empathy, compassion and sensitivity. The book tells its readers, it’s time to say #WeAreNotOkay and that is okay.

This story by Natalia Gomes is of the moment, and it certainly delivers a clear message to teen readers.
We focus on four teenage girls. Each has a secret that they want nobody to know about, and they’ll do anything to ensure it stays secret.
Of the four girls I felt a lot of sympathy for Trina. She has a lot of people talking about her, and ends up in a situation over which she has no control. As a result she makes some difficult decisions which have pretty extreme consequences.
There was a lot happening here. It seemed as if most topical scenarios were explored here, and not all were given quite as much detail/exploration as they might have been. I felt one such incident (concerning Sophie) seemed to come out of nowhere and I had to reread a section wondering if I’d missed something.
Ultimately this was a book that made me very very relieved to not be a teenager of the social media generation, and determined to try to encourage people of this age to be as open as possible about their experiences. Everyone plays their part in this bullying culture, and the sooner we take responsibility for it the better.

I found aspects of this book really wonderful. Ullana and Trinas stories in particular. I felt they were really strong and wonderfully relatable.
However, I didn't enjoy the Lucy storyline it felt forced and I don't like texts that undermine the concept of Abortions when 1 in 3 women have them! (especially when the book is aimed at young people) This text makes it look like having a baby at 17 will fix all your problems and as a dear friend of someone who did that I can say it definitely isn't true!
I wish the Sophie storyline had been more complex and in depth. I think it had the capability of being incredible, but there wasn't quite enough of her journey to be satisfying to me.
Overall I think there are a lot of good moments but also a fair few weaker ones. I'd say the book was good but not great.

I was really disappointed with this book. The synopsis sounded really good. I did not like the writing style and I could not get interested in any of the characters. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This novel is perfect for spreading awareness of how utterly damaging a simple rumour can be, how quickly a snide remark can destroy someone's life. I don't think intense bullying is discussed enough in childrens, teen and YA books, we need more emphasis on showing how awful bullying is and how to stop it.

This book follows four very different girls, all of which are in the same year in the same school. Have you heard of the phrase that you never know what someone is going through? Well that is the entire concept of this book. Each of these girls have a reputation, whether it's for being quiet, outgoing, a typical good girl or popular. But these reputations are only what people assume.

Through their own perspectives we're given an insight into the different issues each of these girls are facing. Lucy is in denial over many things, including the end of her relationship. Ulana is having to lie to her parents to  keep her relationship a secret. Trina has been abused but is struggling to confide in anyone. And Sophia is feeling pressured by her boyfriend.

The worries of these four teenage girls are very real issues that young women across the UK are facing. Through this book I would hope that teenagers would realise how speaking out, confiding in someone and being honest will help them, that they don't have to face anything alone.

It's a fairly impactful novel that discusses some very difficult topics. I would definitely recommend this book, but please make yourself aware of the trigger warnings.

I read this book in one sitting. Initially I found it quite hard to get into, but I am glad I persisted, My only comments would be I didn't like how Trinas POV was a diary entry, and I don't feel like each issue got properly explored, and feel as though Steves punishment was very unrealistic.

This was very very good. It switches between 4 characters that are very different to each other. Personally i thought Ulana’s pov was the most noteworthy. Her depiction of being a teenage muslim girl was honest and bright and didn’t subscribe to stereotypes. The other storylines were issues that I think are very common but it was still fascinating to read their thoughts. I thought Lucy’s growth was great. Def was rooting for her. Trina was also great and her relationship with Lucy was one of the main highlights of this.
Sophie was interesting in that I didn’t feel that connected to her. Her storyline was dealt with in a very tone appropriate way which i appreciated

I am so disappointed in this book, After reading what it was about I thought it was going to be a book that I devoured in one sitting but instead it almost became a DNF.
I didn’t enjoy the writing style at all, I had no emotional connection to anyone in the story despite what each of the four main characters were going through. It was just so boring, I had to force myself to finish it!
I did give We Are Not Okay two stars but only because the topics covered are important, especially for teenagers to understand their actions have consequences and to know it’s ok to speak up.

Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes it feels like YA novels are fitting more and more into the New Adult genre than Young Adult, this book however is firmly in the YA camp. Despite its adolescent target audience, there are some tough issues explored here. The book follows several teenage girls at Secondary school and their relationships with each other and the other people in their lives.

Some of the issues explored in this book include sexual assault, slut shaming, revenge porn/cyberbullying, drug use, racism and suicide. It reminded me a little of Laura Bates’ “The Burning” and explored similar themes.

The issue I have with most of these contemporary YA books seems it rear its head in every book I read of their type – the characters are really stereotypical. There’s always an oppressed Muslim girl, there’s a bitchy girl who secretly has a heart of gold – it’s like authors are trying to fill a bingo card of teenage tropes. I feel like really concentrating on one or two of them would be more fulfilling from a reader’s perspective.

My main issue with the novel was the writing style. I couldn’t help comparing it to “The Burning” and it just felt a little...flat? It’s not bad by any means, it just felt somewhat simplistic.

Overall, this book deals with some important issues but I don’t think it will stick in my mind as long as similar books did. The playlist idea at the beginning of chapters was a really cool idea however, and not something I've seen before.

This book was an enjoyable read, and had some important messages that young readers should listen to.

I thought the characters came across well. The book focuses on four girls, each with their own issues surrounding how they are treated when it comes to their reputation and boys. When each character shows their perspective, you see a unique personality for each girl and it shows how differently they react to bullying and shaming towards themselves and the other girls. The boys in this book were also written well. I thought the story was paced well, and the story easily kept my interest.

This was an interesting story and it had some important messages which everyone could use. Talk about your problems, don't carry them alone and let them build up. If you're not comfortable doing something, stand your ground, be firm. Be careful who you share private things with and don't hurt other people.

A powerful thought-provoking look at what happens when young girls are silenced.
This is a novel that takes hold of you on the first page and throws into a hurricane of emotions as the story unfolds. It's unflinchingly honest and beautifully written.