We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and have survived the Tuesday that feels like a Monday. I did (but only just barely, to be honest). It was a bit of a day of many things going wrong, but not this latter part of it….

I got to watch the sun set in the west while opening up my BOTM box, and this made my book-loving, nerd-heart soar. 

Here’s my add-on, next to the setting sun. I chose it because I love the work of Andrea Bartz, and I’m glad it seems like she’s finally getting more of the recognition she deserves.

And this title...I mean, come ON. It’s haunting in just the right way. Who is ‘We’? And why was this ‘We’ ‘Never Here’?

Also, it reminds me of “You Were Never Really Here,” an amazing film directed by one of the most bold and bada** female directors, Lynne Ramsay and based off of a short story of the same name by Jonathan Ames.

Anyway, I digress. The title of this book makes me want to stick my nose into it and not look up until I’ve reached the end, while ignoring everything I’m supposed to be doing. Sadly, this is not the way life works.

Yes, I’m a sucker for a good title. And coming up with a good title can be SO hard. Although I guess some people are just really good at it.

Besides this one, some other recent titles I have loved include: The Madness of Crowds, Velvet was the Night and Dark Matter 

Q: What’s a title - or some titles - that made you feel desperate to pick up a book?

Have a good Tuesday that feels like Monday night, friends 

Book Summary:
Emily is having the time of her life—she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to their room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year’s trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can’t believe it’s happened again—can lightning really strike twice?

Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving headfirst into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their cover-ups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can Emily outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom—even her life?