Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

Brooklyn hasn’t been the same since her boyfriend Lucca died. The past year, she thought things were getting better, but the death of her friend Gabe makes the grief and despair fresh. And now, to make matters worse, she can’t sleep because Gabe’s ghost is haunting her. The last thing Brooklyn expects to find in this situation is a friend, but that she does when Lucca’s brother Nico reaches out to her. Little does Brooklyn know that Nico’s being haunted too—by Lucca’s ghost. As Brooklyn and Nico’s tentative friendship grows, they will have to learn to trust each other even with secrets if either will be able to let go and move on.

Chasing Brooklyn is a beautiful and sweet story about love, loss, and letting go. I loved Schroeder’s delicate use of verse in her second novel Far From You. I’ve always believed that sometimes the simplest writing that gives just brief sensations, dialogue, and thought can be the most emotionally intense, and this statement certainly hold true for Schroeder’s writing. Readers will be able to deeply connect with both Brooklyn and Nico as they each try to make sense of what’s going on in their lives. Though a happy ending can be predicted, it doesn’t make Brooklyn’s and Nico’s journey to that happiness any less sweet. At times, I felt that Brooklyn and Nico’s connection was a little strange or awkward because their relationship is founded upon a dead boyfriend or brother, respectively. Nevertheless, Chasing Brooklyn is a very worthwhile read. In fact, although I primarily read novels in prose, Schroeder is one of the only authors who write in verse who I keep coming back to.

Chasing Brooklyn will appeal to fans of Far From You, also by Lisa Schroeder, The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti, and The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen.

Rating: 4.25

Review copy from Amazon Vine