Luke and Toby are in their senior year in high school dreaming of leaving their small town together when life begins to pull them apart. Their story is emotional explores tough topics like abuse, first love, friendship, and consequences. This heartbreaking book is told through letters from death row and a third person narrative showing the events that land a teenager on death row. Would recommend to mature students because of language, abuse, and sexual content. ( )

teen realistic fiction (friendship, poverty/physical abuse, circumstances leading to incarceration)
It seemed to be well written, but my brain was having trouble connecting to the characters (probably too much background noise at the time). Maybe I will try this again later.

I was intrigued by this book from the start, especially when I realised that Luke was writing to his friend from prison. Why was he there? What terrible crime had he committed? It wasn't long before I realised that Luke was not just in prison, he was on death row. I had to read more! And so I followed, the tragic, heart-wrenching story of Luke and Toby, and the events that led to Luke's arrest.

These two boys had very few positives in their lives except each other. Toby's father was a drunk and a brute who would take his anger out on his son. Luke had two gorgeous little brothers but his mother wasn't the most reliable and was certainly not Mother of the Year material. However, Luke was a protector and would do anything for his brothers and best friend.

The love, trust and loyalty Toby and Luke shared moved me. It was something pure and special which made the ending that more tragic. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author. A powerful read! ( )

The first half of the book was strong. The boys' friendship and the hardships they faced in their lives was compelling. Once the females entered the story line, it lost my interest. However, I'm not a young-adult, and teens might enjoy the second half of the book. I did read to the end, but wasn't surprised in the least. ( )

“We are not living in a world that stands still."
I have feelings after reading this books. Not bad feelings or even good ones, just a lot of feelings. This book definitely pulls at your heart and leaves an impact. It’s so much a character study of friendship and the messiness of life. It’s almost overwhelming, but in a good way. We’ll Fly Away follows best friends Luke and Toby living in their small North Carolina town. We see their friendship, their fights, and what happens when it all goes horribly wrong.

Things I Liked
The story really is just a snapshot of a life. It’s earnest, honest, and exposed. I love stories about friendship and We’ll Fly Away delivered in showcasing the dependency, the anger, and the love between these two in a heartfelt and painful way.

I LOVED the letters that Luke wrote to Toby. It not only added a cool timeline element to the story, but I enjoyed getting to know him more and really get into his mindset.

Things I Didn’t Like
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romances in the story, and they unfortunately got more prevalent as the story progressed. I honestly thought they were not needed at all.

I feel like We’ll Fly Away is almost painful to read. (Yes, I did cry) I don’t know if it’s something you can really enjoy, so much as just the story that’s being told and the lives these characters have lived. The story feels personal, so it was really easy to complete invest yourself. If you’re looking for a reading experience that will leave you thinking and feeling something, look no further than We’ll Fly Away.

I received a copy of the book from Harper Collins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )