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Book Review: “What We Left Behind” by Robin Talley


Title: What We Left Behind

Author: Robin Talley

Published: October 22nd, 2015

Publisher: Mira Ink

Find the Author: Goodreads

I received this book for review! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn’t enough to conquer all.
Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They’ve been together forever. They never fight. They’re deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they’re sure they’ll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.
The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.
While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won’t understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni’s life. As distance and Toni’s shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?
When I read Lies We Tell Ourselves, it was clear that Robin Talley was going to be a huge hit in the YA and LGBTQ literature department so I was excited to start What We Left Behind with high expectations. I had heard mixed reviews about the novel and that there were issues with labels and pronouns for the characters (by the character), but read anyway to see my own view on it.

Gretchen and Toni are in love, but they’re facing different futures apart despite their close knit relationship. Whereas Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, is heading to Harvard, Gretchen who is not trans, is heading to NYU. This is the first real time they would be apart and they’re both worried for their future that prompts questions of doubt in their minds, especially after Toni falls in with a new crowd and for the first time in forever, feels at home and a sense of belonging with them. Gretchen starts to feel less and less like herself after she grows apart with Toni. She no longer feels like the person she used to be and worries for their future, if they even had one anymore – now distance and a sudden shift in their history make for an unsteady fate. Suddenly they only have two choices: will love keep them together or tear them apart?

I loved Lies We Tell Ourselves for the reason that it felt like I was reading something honest and true. With What We Left Behind, I still felt that, but I didn’t feel as much of a connection between Gretchen and Toni until later on in the novel, although reading about them separately and getting to know them, I connected to them individually. Their dynamic was a major plot device and it’s inspiring that LGBTQ characters are getting their chance to shine in novels – and in that way, it made for a great read. 

Inspiring, moving and a captivating read, What We Left Behind will give you a sense and feeling that you’ve just read one of the best in it’s genre. 

Have you read What We Left Behind?

What did you think?

Let me know in the comments or at @LittleMemoirs on twitter!

happy reading!
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Book Review: “Lies We Tell Ourselves” by Robin Talley

Title: Lies We Tell Ourselves

Author: Robin Talley
Genre: Young Adult – Historical/Contemporary
Release Date: October 3rd, 2014
Published by: Mira Ink (UK)


★ I received this from Mira Ink in exchange for an honest review. As always, my reviews are fair and non-bias. ★ 

It’s 1959. The battle for civil rights is raging. And it’s Sarah Dunbar’s first day of school, as one of the first black students at the previously all-white Jefferson High. 

 No one wants Sarah there. Not the Governor. Not the teachers. And certainly not the students – especially Linda Hairston, daughter of the town’s most ardent segregationist. Sarah and Linda have every reason to despise each other. But as a school project forces them to spend time together, the less their differences seem to matter.
And Sarah and Linda start to feel something they’ve never felt before. Something they’re both determined to ignore. Because it’s one thing to be frightened by the world around you – and another thing altogether when you’re terrified of what you feel inside.

I’ve never read a book anything like Lies We Tell Ourselves, so I was going into it without knowing what to expect, although from the glowing reviews on Goodreads, I had high expectations for Robin Talley’s writing. 

When Lies We Tell Ourselves begins, it’s 1959 and Sarah Dunbar will be one of the first people that isn’t white to attend Jefferson High. But in this time of the past, no one wants Sarah at the school. Not the students, teachers and Governor, want her there at all. Sarah is thrown into a battlefield of harsh backfire of her integration into the school and the taunting, hurtful words of those surrounding her. As a reader, I was along for the painful things Sarah had to go through and felt how distraught she was at everything happening in her world that resembled more of a whirlwind right now. 
But then, we have Linda. She’s the daughter of the town’s segregationist, popular among the students and couldn’t be further from Sarah’s world right now. At first when we see that Linda and Sarah don’t see eye to eye, it’s more of Linda’s fathers beliefs than her own judgement of Sarah. I felt like it was due to the world Linda had grown up in that she had fallen into a pattern where it seemed like it was okay not to like Sarah. But when school compels them to spend more time together, whatever was in the way of their friendship swiftly moves aside. But when their friendship develops into something else, something neither of them thought possible, they are thrown into another maze. 
Lies We Tell Ourselves was an eye-opening, spectacular book that far exceeded my expectations. Robin Talley wrote about events that no doubt had truth to them, with a gripping storyline and characters vivid and real. Overall, this book is simply unmissable. Although it was hard to relate to Sarah’s situation, I felt something for each character that stood out on the page to me, and in that way, it was truly memorable. Lies We Tell Ourselves deserves all the recognition it gets for being so exceptional.
Bonus Post:
Mira Ink have asked me to share a lie I tell myself, whether it be serious or just funny! So I got a little creative and…

P.S. Biggest Lie Ever. Sleep? What is sleep?

EVERYONE needs to read this.

Have you read Lies We Tell Ourselves?


What did you think?


Tell me in the comments, on twitter or by using the hashtag #LiesWeTellOurselves



happy reading!

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