5:19 PM
Nikki
One year ago today I lost my boyfriend, Lucca.
Chasing Brooklyn is a verse novel, a companion to I Heart You, You Haunt Me. Both are set in the same town, the same high school. Both novels are about the (extended) grieving process. When the novel opens, a year has passed since Lucca's death.
The novel is told in two voices. Readers meet Lucca's girlfriend, Brooklyn, and his brother, Nico. Both are about to be haunted.
Gabe, Lucca's friend, has recently overdosed. His death proves just how emotionally raw and vulnerable this community still is. Since his death, Brooklyn has been haunted. Her dreams are nightmares. The dream-Gabe that haunts her is chasing her, taunting her, almost threatening her.
Nico is having troubling dreams as well--though not of Gabe. No, his brother is telling him night after night after night to help Brooklyn, to protect Brooklyn, to be there for her. So even though Nico and Brooklyn haven't had much to do with one another since Lucca's death, there's nothing he wouldn't do for his brother. So he takes the first steps and a friendship (of sorts) begins.
Is Nico what Brooklyn needs to heal? Is Brooklyn what Nico needs to heal? Is Lucca drawing them together for a reason?
The more I read of Lisa Schroeder, the more I like her work. I'd also recommend Far From You.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Posted in
2010
,
Death and Dying
,
ghosts
,
grief
,
review copy
,
Simon and Schuster
,
suicide
,
verse novel
,
YA Fiction
,
YA Romance
