Day’s YA: WE CAN NEVER LEAVE

WE CAN NEVER LEAVE by H.E. Edgmon
9781250853653
6/10/2025
Wednesday Books
Ages 14-18

E-galley available on Edelweiss and NetGalley

“This is a book about haunted houses, except the houses are bodies and the hauntings are the lies children tell and are told. This is a book about how dangerous it can be to dream when you grow up sleeping with something under your bed. This is not a book about an exorcism, because these houses cannot be saved by anything short of burning to the ground.” —WE CAN NEVER LEAVE

The Caravan travels around the country, secretly searching for people with non-human characteristics and bringing them into the fold. These features could range from subtle oddities like fangs, to more overt peculiarities like antlers, wings, and tails. No matter who they are or where they came from, The Caravan exists to help them. But one morning five teenagers in The Caravan wake up to find that their entire community has disappeared overnight, leaving everything behind. There’s Bird, who recently returned to The Caravan after choosing to leave; Hugo, a troublemaker with a dark soul, and his younger brother, Felix, who has never been in trouble in his life; Cal, a sharp-tongued girl with a dangerous bite; and Eamon, the newest addition to The Caravan. This unlikely group must work together to figure out what happened, but they all have their own secrets and reasons not to trust one another. As those secrets come to light, it becomes clear that this isn’t really about what happened to their community—it’s about what happened to them.

WE CAN NEVER LEAVE is one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read. It’s a little bit fantasy and a little bit mystery, but very character-driven. The chapters are written from the perspectives of all five main characters in this quirky little found family, so I felt like I really got a chance to know each one. They are all so different, but at their core they all just want to feel at home somewhere. H.E. Edgmon’s writing is lyrical and dreamlike—I could tell they poured their heart and soul into the pages of this book. The plot is thoughtful and atmospheric, and touches on topics of trauma, gender, sexuality, and belonging. And the twist at the end had me gobsmacked. I wanted to go back and start the book over from the beginning as soon as I finished. If you are looking for a surreal and haunting read, The Caravan is waiting for you.

“[A] captivating fable of belonging and intergenerational trauma.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Happy reading!
<3 Emily

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