Watch Over Me

Today’s post is on Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour. It is 272 pages long and is published by Dutton Books for Young Readers.  The cover has Mila on it looking with her hair streaming behind her. The intended reader is someone who is like ghost stories, healing stories, and coming of age stories. There is mild foul language, mild sexuality, and mild violence in this novel. The story is told from Mila’s first person perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Mila is used to being alone. Maybe that’s why she said yes to the opportunity: living in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.

But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.

Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a job and a place to stay at a farm on an isolated part of the Northern California Coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home, a real home. The farm is a refuge, but also haunted by the past traumas its young residents have come to escape. And Mila’s own terrible memories are starting to rise to the surface.

Review- This is a fantastic story about a young woman who is dealing with some serious trauma and is told in an interesting way. Mila has aged out of the foster care system but she has somewhere to go. A teaching job on a distance farm with other foster kids and two older adults who own the property. She wants to be alone and forget her past but with ghosts everywhere, forgetting is not easy. This story was incredible, from the slow burn of the truth of the ghosts to the reveal of Mila’s past to the reader, it was just amazing. LaCour took the ghost story and made it new again with the unique plot elements from herself. The writing is excellent, the characters are interesting, and the plot is moving. I highly recommend this novel. 

I give this novel a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this novel from my local library.