Went into this book not knowing a great deal about it but felt it was an emotional roller coaster of a book with teenage angst and youthful ideas..
Even though this book made me think odd the song by nirvana every time I picked it up!

An enjoyable read, well written and entertaining. Hadn't read this author before but would consider reading again.

I knew when i saw the title and author of this book that I'd have to read it, and it did not disappoint! Told in dual timelines, this coming of age story about two friends stumbling their way into adulthood in the 90's completely drew me in. Complex characters and even more complex relationships, and beautifully written.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy.

I couldn't get into this one. I usually like books with a lot of character development and a slower pace, but this one was just too slow for me. I wasn't particularly interested in the characters or in the setting. I did not finish this book, and I probably won't come back to it.

I love family dramas, and even better if they are set in the 20th century or earlier! This one set in Seattle held my interest in the first half but not so much in the second. The timeline shifts weren't well done, and the characters not very likeable.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital advance galley.

I love novels about friendship and this one did not disappoint. The closeness of these characters is so evident on the page, and I thought the plot twists and turns were fresh and interesting.

It took a little time to get into the story, but once it did, it was very good. It is the story of a young couple who have a baby girl, but cannot keep their relationship together. Fast forward to years later. The young man wants to be part of the daughter’s life now that his life is in a better place. The woman has a fiancée now and is moving on. Told in flashbacks interspersed with present time, the storyline takes us through their relationship as teenagers and the attempt to connect with his daughter.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thankyou #netgalley #jenniferhaupt #centralavenuepublishing for a arc copy of this book for a honest review.
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As the story unfolds , this story is actually close to my heart. Quite same story as Making way too LA with music together as a couple .
Making a way of the story of full blast drama,second chance , addiction ⚠️ , the book is quite long but worth it on the end,, not as expected but as heartwarming as it seems:)

❤️Shaye.reads

This novel is called after Nirvana’s Nineties hit and when I saw the title I knew I had to read it. The Seattle grunge scene had a quasi-mythic status all over the world at the time and this transporting novel well represents the music scene, the atmospheres, the concerts with a solid soundtrack playing in the background.

What was it like to be young back then? Skye and Zane are best friends, one of those close, tender, intimate exhilarating friendships that borders on love but you would not want to ruin with a relationship. Yet when Skyies’s sister dies the two are pulled together and they end up with a child, little Montana.. However, Zane is fighting with addiction the relationship comes to an end. Years later, as Skye is trying to build a new life, a new tragedy causes the two to meet again.

A well crafted tale exploring relationships, loss and second chances, that has some classic bittersweet feel but is made interesting by complex characters, flawed and humane, a suspenseful plot that reveals details little by little (such as the mystery of Skye’s sister’s death), and an unpredictable finale The vibes and atmosphere it recreates are unforgettable.

My thanks to #Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy

Sometimes love is not enough and partners have problems or want different things in life. This story explores that. It was a very good and emotional read.
Many thanks to Central Avenue Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Come As You Are….. The title alone was what drawn me to this book. Even now as I sit here and type this review the amazing lyrics of Nirvana is streaming through my head! This book was screaming to me to read it! I mean I lived the 90s and Nirvana was my band!

I spent the summer between high school and college in Seattle and fell in love with the state and the grunge scene! So I loved that this book was set there during (ish) the time I was there. I have to say I didn’t expect what I got out of this book. The story of Skye and Zane was flawed but so perfect and real. Skye is an amazing person and I am extremely so proud of her!

I highly recommend Come as You Are and I look forward to read more from Jennifer Haupt!

Skye and Zane grew up together and were best friends. Skye gets pregnant and they stay together after their daughter Montana is born. When Montana is a toddler, they go their separate ways, due to Zane's addiction issues. Six years later, Skye is practically engaged to Aaron and has built a comfortable life with him, her daughter and Aaron's mother. When Skye's father passes away, her mother begs her to return home for the funeral. She is leary to run into Zane. Tana has grown to resent the man that walked out on them, forgetting him and his image. While reconciling with her grandmother, Tana meets Zane, her mother's best friend growing up and forms a bond with him. Skye is afraid to tell her daughter that the man she is so fond of is actually her father.
I loved the 90s grunge vibe that Come As You Are gave off. So many 90s rock bands are listed throughout and the settings take you back to the mind frame of the 90s. I felt for Skye and how she had so many mixed emotions throughout the novel. I loved how everything worked out in the end as well.

Set in 1990s Seattle, COME AS YOU ARE, is the coming of age story of Skylar (Skye) and Zane. Skye is the groupie to Zane’s wannabe rock star. They are best friends until that fateful night, when Skye’s sister is fatally injured during a party at the dock.

Skye and Zane make an effort at being a couple while raising their newborn, Montana, but ultimately Zane can’t handle it and leaves when Montana is three.

Fast forward to the present, and Zane has completed three stints in rehab and wants to be a father to Montana.

Was it always Skye and Zane and does history always repeat itself? Read this intriguing book to find out the answers to those questions and more. Throughout the book and especially at the end, I was so proud of Skye and the decisions she made.

Jennifer Haupt blew me away with In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills and although this one didn't quite have the impact on me that that book did, Come As You Are: A Novel still leaves a strong impression.

Life - how it gets in the way, changes things, affects things and brings about change. Seattle is known as the birthplace of Grunge (or Seattle Sound as it has been called) and it is where Zane and Skye grew up, became friends then when tragedy strikes Skye's sister, they become lovers.

Told in two timelines we see them as they are friends with a common love of music, and eventually finding solace after loss. Then we see them ten years later when Skye is a single mother raising her daughter, Montana.

Another tragedy will bring them back together...

Jennifer Haupt is such a talented and gifted writer. She creates characters that are fully realized and flawed. I am instantly transported to their world and into their lives. This took a little bit of time for me to be fully engaged but once I was, she captured my attention and never lost it.

This is a character driven book that focuses on relationships, love, addiction, music, starting over and friendship.

Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately I could not get into this book....the story just did not flow well and it kept jumping about to the extent I got totally lost about what the story was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Zane and Skye met as misfit teens with a mutual love for music. Fast forward a few years and they're far apart, not speaking, with a child between them. Can they put their issues aside for the sake of their daughter?

There was a lot of raw emotion in this book, which I'm usually into, but I didn't like the characters enough to really be rooting for them. I'm happy with how it ended, but it unfortunately was not as engaging as I had hoped.

Zane and Skye are drawn to each other amidst the height of the Seattle grunge scene. Ten years later they are reunited under very different circumstances. I loved the Seattle stuff, but found some of the time jumping a bit confusing. A good read though.

Come as You Are
by Jennifer Haupt
Pub Date; March 1, 2022
Central Avenue Publishing
Set against a backdrop of Seattle in the early '90s, Haupt's second novel is a compelling family drama and love story that explores the question: Can we alter our dreams and stories from the past to create a better future for our children?
Thanks to the author, Central Avenue Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
This was a mixed bag for me. I liked about 50 percent of it but not all. I didn’t love this one. The first half was interesting, and I loved the Seattle atmosphere. However, about halfway through, I started noticing how the shifts in timelines created confusion and annoyance…instead of intrigue. I didn’t really like any of the characters.
Other reviewers liked this book, but for me, it was a thumbs down.
3 stars

Come As You Are was a really well-written, enjoyable book. Writing relationships in a way that feels real and authentic is not an easy feat, especially when those relationships begin in the teenage years. This book perfectly conveyed all the angst, drama, heartbreak and love that many people feel with their first love. It also showed how those feelings can be carried with you into adulthood and the long term affects they can have your self-worth, relationships, major life decisions, and thought processes.

Sometimes with character driven novels, it can feel like it's dragging, or that it gets so lost in the details that nothing really "happens" over the course of the book. Jennifer Haupt managed to create a character-driven novel with an interesting plot that kept me engaged throughout. The characters were so real and flawed, it made the story completely believable.

I also loved that the relationships in this book were faceted and complex. And there were so many different relationships that were explored in this book; mother-daughter, sisters, friends, lovers, father-son, etc. Each relationship was given a backstory and felt fully-fleshed out. And I just loved how real the relationships felt. They were messy and not everything was tied up neatly with a bow.

I also learned something in this book about the way anxiety can affect some people. Throughout the story, Zane (one of the main characters) experiences debilitating migraines that sometimes cause him to respond in a physical manner. I kept wondering if that would be explained, because as someone that has suffered with migraines in the past, I certainly never reacted the way that Zane did in this book. As readers, we learn that this is how anxiety (and maybe PTSD?) presents itself in him. I liked that the author brought awareness to something that I never knew about anxiety.

As someone that was a teenager in the 90's (and a huge fan of grunge and alternative music), I was thrilled to see the musical references in this book. She even mentioned the Smashing Pumpkins, my all-time favorite band to this day! So that was just a fun and unexpected element that I enjoyed.

The only glaring thing that I didn't like about the story was a really poor decision (in my opinion) that Skye made toward the end of the book. It left me feeling unsettled and upset and I found it strange that it was basically just glossed over, even though in real life, it's a decision that would have detrimental effects. It definitely made me lose a little respect for her character.

There was also one part of the plot that was the impetus for a lot of things that followed, and it was consistently referred to throughout the book; but once it finally came to a head, it was sort of anti-climactic. I was a little surprised at how that was written, though I also don't know how I would have liked to have seen it addressed. The characters had already suffered so much up to that point, that maybe it didn't need to be a bigger focus at that point.

All in all it was a solid read that I really enjoyed. I am actually finding myself appreciating it more the longer I sit with my thoughts about it. I would recommend this to everyone, because whether you prefer plot-driven or character-driven books, I think the pacing of this one makes it appealing to both preferences.

*Thank you to Central Avenue Publishing, Jennifer Haupt, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Set in Seattle in the 1990s amid the grunge revival, this is a "slice of life" story about young love, addiction and heartbreak. Skye and Zane meet as new neighbors when Skye is 12 and Zane is 14. They immediately bond as outcasts, especially when Skye starts high school a year early. They have dreams of moving to California, while Zane pursues his dream of being a guitarist and Skye, an artist. When tragedy strikes and Skye's sister, Lauren, falls off a dock and dies, they look to each other for support. Skye becomes pregnant and their dreams take second place to raising a child. She ends up raising their child on her own in a small home in Albuquerque.

When tragedy strikes again years later, and Skye's father passes away from a heart attack, she hears from Zane for the first time in 6 years. He wants a relationship with his daughter. But Skye is engaged to another man whom her daughter calls "Dad". What role can Zane play in her life and how will her daughter react to have in having her father back?

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love the story - unexpected pregnancy, young love, single mom - all elements of a great book. What brought this to 3 stars from 5 stars is the confusing timelines throughout the book. I felt that some things Haupt flashed back on needed more fleshing out. An example would be the relationship between Lauren and Zane. When did it progress? And why did Zane and Skye sleep together? And was it the night Lauren died? Ultimately, I was so confused with timelines that it brought me out of the story checking back to see what happened when. So while I thought the story was fantastic, I wish certain things be clearer.