Book Review: The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

Title: The Names They Gave Us
Author: Emery Lord
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 390
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Year Published: 2017
Format: Hardcover Copy (Own It)
First Line:  "The first prom crisis is manageable."

"When it all falls apart, who can you believe in?

Everything is going right for Lucy Hansson, until her mother's cancer reappears. Just like that, Lucy breaks with all the constants in her life: her do-good boyfriend, her steady faith, even her longtime summer church camp job.

Instead, Lucy lands at a camp for kids who have been through, tough times. As a counselor, Lucy is in over her head and longs to be with her parents, across the lake. But that's before she gets to know her coworkers, who are as loving and unafraid as she so desperately wants to be.

It's not just new friends that Lucy discovers at camp= more than one old secret is revealed along the way. In fact, maybe there's much more to her family and her faith than Lucy ever realized. "

My Rating: 4.5/5

Trigger for: parents with critical illness
I want to start this review off by saying that I'm not a religious person and I still really enjoyed this book, even though religion played a heavy part in the book. This book really follows Lucy Hansson beginning to question her faith and her life. There are secrets she uncovers about those around her as well as finding who she really is. I didn't think that I would like this coming of age story, but it hit me so hard emotionally. I think the friendships played such a huge role in this story, along with the relationships that are made and broken throughout the course of one summer. I was also grateful to have religious parents who were open to people who were not worshippers, and being just generally good people. I certainly come from a town where some churches are more judgemental and therefore intimidating and upsetting instead of a warm and helpful place to go. 
The negative that I got from this series is that there is not a concrete ending and that is not my favourite thing. I like answers and wrap up to my questions to be sure and certain. That being said, I understand why the author made this choice. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny