The Names They Gave Us: Book Review

The Names They Gave Us Plot Summary

When Lucy finds out that her mum’s cancer has come back, it turns her world upside down. Suddenly all of the rules she’s followed so carefully, and her previously unshakeable faith, don’t seem to make any sense. When her mum suggests that Lucy spends the summer as a counsellor at Daybreak, a camp for troubled kids, instead of at Holyoke with her parents, Lucy feels even more adrift. Worried that it might be the last thing her mother ever asks of her, Lucy reluctantly agrees. But little does she know; it might be exactly what she needs.

For another story set around summer camp, check out Hope and Other Punchlines.

My thoughts

The Names They Gave Us, by Emery Lord, is a sweet story about friends, family and finding your place. I bought the book on a total whim, knowing nothing about it, and went into it with zero expectations. Maybe that’s why it captured me the way it did? I got completely swept up in this story, falling in love with its protagonist and supporting characters.

What I liked about Lucy

Lucy and her parents are sweet. Because her mum has had cancer previously, Lucy has a keen awareness of the fact that her parents won’t be around forever. So, she prioritises spending time with them, and has a really nice relationship with them both, her mum in particular.

She has a boyfriend at the beginning of the story, although he puts their relationship on pause near the beginning of the book. This comes from a reasonable place on his part, and although the idea of ‘pausing’ a relationship is soundly (and justifiably) mocked throughout the story, I thought he was actually quite a sweet character. I definitely appreciated that he wasn’t made out to be a villain. He’s just a person who wants something different than Lucy wants.

The friends that Lucy makes at Daybreak are great. Anna is the one she gets closest to, and is consequently the one I feel like we get to know best, and she’s a fantastic character. Thoughtful and interesting, she makes a lot of effort to make Lucy feel included in her close-knit group of friends. Anna, Lucy discovers partway through the book, is trans, and there’s a slightly awkward conversation between the two of them when this is revealed. Lucy, although very well intentioned, puts her foot in it several times while trying to talk about the topic.

What Lucy wants to communicate is that she cares a lot about Anna, and wants very badly to be a good friend to her. After a few false starts, Lucy apologises, and Anna offers to start the conversation from the top. They do much better the second time around.

One of the things I really appreciate about Lucy as a character is her ability to apologise. I love a character who can accept when they’ve messed up, and own up to it without defensiveness.

The Names They Gave Us isn’t perfect

There were a couple of plot lines that didn’t get resolved to my satisfaction. One of these was the thread about Lucy’s make-up channel – we learn early on that Lucy has this channel. We also know that she hasn’t told her parents. Considering how close she is to them, this feels significant. There’s also an ongoing question mark that hovers over what Lucy wants to do with her life. The make-up channel is referenced periodically throughout the story; just often enough that you can’t forget that it exists.

Putting all of those things together, it felt like the make-up channel storyline might be heading somewhere interesting or central to the plot, but ultimately that whole thread kind of petered out. It isn’t disastrous, but it does always bother me when characters and storylines don’t feel like they’ve had the pay-off you were built up to expect!

Summary

The Names They Gave Us is a really lovely story. It offers some important diversity, and a hugely endearing protagonist. I think it would be an excellent choice for fans of Sarah Dessen or Holly Bourne, and I’d definitely recommend it for any general readers of YA!