One year ago Brooklyn lost her boyfriend Lucca. Now it’s his friend Gabe who’s died. If her still painful and raw grief wasn’t enough, his death has made the small sane part of her snap. Worst of all, Gabe, not Lucca, is now haunting her dreams. Instead of his human self it’s a gray-skinned, red-eyed Gabe on a relentless chase after her.

It’s also been a year since Nico lost his brother, Lucca. The only way he knows how to deal with the loss is to run – literally. But he can’t run forever, and it’s looks like his problems will catch up to him unless he heeds his own ghost, Lucca, whose messages to help Brooklyn are becoming more desperate.

There’s so much that is beautiful in this haunting story of loss and grief. As novels dealing with death tend to do, Chasing Brooklyn reminded me of how the experience can have many similarities with other loss novels on the surface but can still be its own original work, exploring something very human and universal in a totally different, but right way. There is also so much that I loved, starting with the eerie, blue-green cover and the reaching hand. I loved the journal-entry format, which fit the free verse well. The sparse, emotional verse also seems very appropriate for a story about void. Most of all I loved struggling  Brooklyn and damaged Nico, whose pain was palpable and felt true to life. These two go from training partners, to friends, to “it’s complicated”and more, and I enjoyed every sad, confused and sweet minute of it. As you can guess neither wants Nico to be the second-best replacement of Lucca, and that’s the root of the conflict. If you’re looking to try a novel in free verse please pick up Chasing Brooklyn. It is absolutely lovely and I thank Angie for adding it to my stack. I’m anxiously awaiting my copy of the companion novel I Heart You, You Haunt Me.

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