Are You Okay?

by Stephanie Steele

Four dead, one injured.

This was the news that spread quickly on a normal Tuesday in a small college town. There was a shooting on campus, their campus.

Two students begin their senior year of college, never expecting to fall in love. In the face of adversity, the two struggle greatly to maintain their relationship and when a fatal shooting on campus occurs, their lives are forever changed.

Are Your Okay? Is a novel about loss, judgment, and perception. It is a novel about love and what it can cost to love someone unexpectedly and unconditionally when they are the same gender.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 14, 2015

Reviews

[Angie Engles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful in its spirit and its sincerity, Are You Okay? is a book I wish I could send back in time to my 22 year old self, who would have loved and so appreciated ( and desperately needed) its life-saving words.

[Sam Blondell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Omg this book was just amazing everyone go read it !!!!!! Tears are falling i cant even explain the heartbreak and love this book holds

[Carla Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute amazing book.

This book should be one that every high school student should read. Yes, these people were in college but, I believe juniors and seniors in high school could relate so very well with these people in this book.
Lana and Sam along with their friends and families are a part of everyone's school, and lives. In this day and age I believe everyone has been touched or has known someone within the LGBTQ community.
Understanding and learning about their lives...This book does it in such a way that it touches your heart, and makes you cry, and brings a smile, and let's you have hope.
Please read Samantha and Lana's story, it's a true story of love.

[J. Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Given the nature of the book, anyone going in should be aware that it deals with some heavy stuff. The romance can be a bit fluffy at times, but by the end of the book, things get pretty dark.

One of the better aspects of the book is how it's set up. From the very beginning, you know that something bad has happened and that the book is going to be leading up to it. You don't know who, what, or why yet, but the book does an excellent job at setting up multiple candidates for who it could be. I didn't guess who it was going to be until the pivotal moment arrived. I think the lead up was perhaps a little better than the moment itself, but it still did a good job at building the tension and showing the horror of that moment.

Sam and Lana were fun protagonists, but I did feel like I was kept at a distance for some of it, in the sense that it was hard initially to connect to them.

Overall, it was a good book. I won't lie, it's a bit of a downer, but it deals with some of the lousy reality that the LGBT+ community has to deal with, even today. I like that it doesn't shy away from those issues.

A few spoilers below.

I still hate Eric and his views, but I also feel bad about how he was raised and that, in different circumstances, he could be a better person, and might still be one day in the future. Still an asshole for the majority of the book. For that reason, I knew he wasn't going to be the shooter. It would've been too obvious.

The fact that two of the people who died were the youngest hit particularly hard, and in a way, almost seemed unnecessary. I know it was going for the maximum tragedy, and it was effective, but man. I liked both of them, and wish we'd gotten more from them in the book. I was hoping that at least one of them would survive.

I also wish we'd gotten more of the support group. I liked the various members and don't really think the book spent enough time with them. I also really liked Sam's friends and wish we'd gotten to spend a little more time with them as well, particularly Charlie, who turned out to have some hidden depth that I didn't expect after the opening chapters.

I am glad that Sam lived. If she had died, I would've liked the book a lot less. You can only take so much tragedy in a book and that would've been way too much. It was already on the borderline as it was.

All in all, I enjoyed it. It's a bit of a heavy read, but a worthwhile one, dealing with important issues.

One final note - I wish the ending had gone on just a little longer, to show us a bit more of the aftermath.

[Lucy Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely can't get over how amazing this book is and this will be a read I'll never forget. It was so beautifully written and god did it make me cry. Events like this are so true to life and I think that's what makes the book so special. The love between Sam and Lana is so strong and no matter how hard things got they came out fighting. Thank you for such amazing writing and please consider writing a continuation.

[Staci Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to and would definitely recommend it.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still can't stop the tears

Can't fathom the words that can even begin to explain my emotions & feelings… IJS— I SO LOVE THIS BOOK!!

It made me smile, made me cry, pissed me off & pushed my buttons, made my heart ache & made me optimistic riding the emotional rollercoaster from the first word to the last about finding & forging the redemption & resilience, security, strength, promise & power of love.

This story is a piece of masterful literary art! The intensity, passion, fear & anguish so raw & real they don't need to be introduced or invoked— they just simply exist.

Beautiful, powerful & sincere experience of humanity's fragility & infallibility—LOVE!!

[Ginger Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important.

This book begins with words that could have come from a newspaper or television and have come more than once. It puts that same sinking feeling in your heart as those other stories. It could almost be ripped from the headlines on any given day. It is told in flashbacks from Lana and Sam. Two girls very much in love but not together at that time. As one rushes to the side of the other we get the stories of each. Both of them told in a way every reader can relate to. Lana is strong, comfortable with what who she is and ready to fight for everything she knows is right. Samantha is scared . She loves Lana deeply but cannot shake the fear of her parents and the aversion therapy she was put through. She hides in the closet, literally. The reader feels her fear and Lana's pain that comes from that fear. One day, by accident, Sam finds the push she needs to move out of that closet. And then comes the very real chance that it came too late because a true, ripped from the headlines, event happens. Here is where this book excels. It grabs your heart and does not let go. The reader feels the same panic as every character in this book does. I will not write anymore about the story. The writer handles this perfectly. How she steps into the hearts and minds of her readers and her characters is pretty incredible. She ends this perfectly although it is far from a perfect ending because it can't be after all that has happened. This is one of the few books that I will recommend to everyone because it is a book that needs to be read by everyone. Give this book a chance and there is no way you will ever forget it. Very, very, well done and very highly recommended.

[Joseeey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the 2nd book I read on my Kindle and it has become my #1 favorite. I couldn’t put this book down and became sad when I finished reading it. I loved the alternating chapters from the viewpoints of the girls. I enjoyed that the characters where rich in personality and details. It felt like I personally knew them by the end of the book. Sad there is not 2nd book as I feel like I want to visit this world again.

[Silvia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit of a surprise, but I liked this book very much. At first, I thought the author's writing style was a bit boring and overly romantic, but I got used to it (mostly because I really wanted to know how it ended), but I ended up liking it, a lot. This book is so much more than a love story, it's about accepting yourself, no matter what. It's about being strong, getting in control of your own life and letting yourself to be truly happy. I needed to read this so much. I'm glad I did.

[Marty Fordyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY MOVING!!

I skipped the middle of the book because I couldn't stand the anticipation but I still give it five stars. I look forward to going back to read what I missed. Thank you!!!
rnbwchs@gmail.com

[Caitlin Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. I enjoyed the premise and I think the message was really important. The ending was very intense, but it was written very well. I liked the characters, but I couldn't connect with them very well. Other than that, I enjoyed it.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read.

I rated it a 4 out of 5 only because of the ending. Not sure there will be a continuation of this book but it could. I only disliked how it ended was hoping for a happy ending but I understand the reality of the storyline

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

some typos but overall a very impactful reading

[Tera Woolley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. The topic is a good one and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I got through it very quickly because I couldn't put it down after a while. Pretty good representation of the LGBT community and the harassment they have to face.

[Heather Henkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

This book is really intense and deals with a lot of issues facing the LGBT community. But the way it was done was incredible and I highly recommend this book.