~~Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!~~

This one just . . . confused and bored me, to say the least.

The beginning was strong, with the adult disappearance set up and showcasing the group dynamics (i.e., everyone hating each other), but so much of the middle chunk is dedicated so much to poetic writing that made visualizing the scene very difficult for me. I can tell that there is something meaningful wrapped up in the pretty prose, themes regarding gender, sexuality, outcasts, humanity, etc., but nothing properly is given time to breath and explain. Plus, the rules of the Caravan and the society aren't fully explored and the whole issue just drops in on itself by the end.

I can be all for unlikable characters, especially when they're deeply traumatized like our leads here, but it just doesn't work for me here. It really doesn't help that the five separate POVs are being torn between the past and future in a little over 300 pages; so much is rushed through or not explained enough in order for me to clearly understand all these kids and their motivations. Besides the brief flashback snippets, we don't know anything about these characters other than they argue constantly, which makes them so stagnant and boring. The book keeps saying there's sexual tension / soul mate connection between Bird and Hugo, but I never thought that at all. Cal could have been more interesting if she was given the proper time, Eamon was barely there and felt borderline invisible, and Felix - the whole thing with him should have been properly developed more before the end; that's all I'll say.

There actually is something that elicited some passion in me, but all for the wrong reasons. In a couple chapters in Felix's POV, Edgmon, disguised as the narrator, straight up condescendingly explains the point of the story, and not so subtly foreshadows the ending, to the reader. I know people think YA readers are dumb and don't understand literary analysis, but I never would expect that attitude straight from a YA author. This really got on my nerves so much because I despise authors who look down on their reader base like that.

All in all, while it may be a well-intentioned book, the lack of story and character development really dragged it down. I'm probably gonna read whatever Edgmon outs out next, though.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.** HE Edgmon presents their newest YA fantasy We Can Never Leave. Marketed as a contemporary fantasy at the intersection of Sweet Tooth and The Raven Boys, readers follow five teens who are residents of the Caravan. The Caravan is a safe haven to non humans, particularly those who wake with no memory of life before. When all the adults of the Caravan disappear and leave the five teenagers behind, it is up to them to find out what is happening and what has happened to them. I was pre-approved for this title due to my enjoyment of Don't Let the Forest In. I kind of get the correlation? But I think it is a huge disservice to this book to market it as "contemporary fantasy" and not "fantasy horror". Sweet Tooth is fair for vibes, but The Raven Boys not so much. Perhaps the publisher was going for found family, but this is more forced family in the way of a zombie apocalypse book than in the feel-good way. These kids, quite frankly, don't even really like each other that much. Except when they love each other. Every single person in this story is unlikeable. Every relationship, regardless of type of relationship, is at least a bit toxic. The pace is incredibly slow and circuitous, which makes sense given the nature of the story, but nevertheless does impact the experience. And at least half of your questions are not going to be answered. This novel lives firmly in uncanny valley and is told in five points of view with an intrusive narrator and a fractured timeline. If all of those things sound like they will work for you, then rock on with this book. Unfortunately, those features, while executed perfectly fine, are simply not things I tend to like. I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this early. I have enjoyed HE Edgmon's books in the past and look forward to their future works.