Review by Sophie Savage
Tundra Books, April 9, 2024.
232 pages, hardcover, $23.99 CAD, 9781774883402.
Young Adult, ages 14+
Contemporary Realism, Fiction
My room is its regular chaos and all I can think about is sinking under those blankets. Normally I’d take a bath first, a hot one, but I fall like a tumbling tree onto my back, the mattress breaking my fall, and stay there.
There.
Here.
There’s never really an escape for me. Sometimes my room feels like a fortress and other times it feels like a prison. Nothing in. Nothing out. Just me alone with my thoughts, even though I tell Jes almost everything and even though Derrick’s been that blanket I can disappear under without having to say a word.
Sometimes we work so hard to block out memories, just for one singular event to make them come flooding back. When her mother suddenly dies in a car accident, eighteen-year-old Coi finds herself forced to reexamine years of mental and physical abuse. Having not seen her abusive mother since she was fourteen, Coi is left with an abundance of unanswered questions. This book follows Coi’s journey as she searches for answers and grapples with the complicated truth.
Through his captivating writing, Carter accurately displays what grief and trauma may look like for a teenager. Coi’s decisions throughout the novel are not always the most sensible ones, but then again, grief is rarely sensible. The reader closely follows Coi as she makes mistakes and faces her past.
One aspect of this book that is especially unique is the dreaming that Coi experiences. Following her mother’s death, Coi starts to have dreams in which she communicates with her mother. Regardless of whether these dreams are a tool for processing trauma or an actual conversation with her mother from the beyond, they prove to be immensely impactful in Coi’s journey. The revelations in these dreams teach Coi that trauma is not black and white; it is complex, emotional, and affects many people.
Coi is a strong-willed and lovable main character, and Carter does a wonderful job of developing her personality. Though this novel tackles tougher subjects like grief and trauma, it also addresses struggles teenagers often face. As a first-year university student, Coi is figuring out her professional passions, developing meaningful friendships, and understanding her new romantic relationship. The mix of these struggles while also coming to terms with her mother’s death culminates in a determined main character I couldn’t help but root for.
Carter also writes a colourful cast of side characters that intertwine beautifully with Coi’s journey. The reader gets to explore Coi’s changing relationship with her dad as she becomes a more independent woman and takes the space she needs to grieve on her own. The presence of Coi’s best friend Jes emphasizes the importance of strong friendships when going through a traumatic experience. Carter also challenges what it means to be a family as Coi reconnects with people she has not seen in years, including her struggling sister, Kayla, and her complicated grandmother, Lady.
Kern Carter’s And Then There Was Us is a thought-provoking and emotional novel that depicts a teenage girl coming to terms with her childhood trauma following the death of her mother. Regardless of the reader’s personal experiences, And Then There Was Us is an important read for anyone looking for a book that explores reevaluating childhood trauma and complicated family relationships.
Sophie Savage is an avid reader studying at UBC and planning to go into elementary education. When she is not reading, she can be found swimming in the ocean (year-round) or spending way too much time in used bookstores.
YOUNG ADULTING 