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Reviewed by Jennifer Senick for Readers' Favorite
Sometimes the hardest battles are the ones no one else can see. Gr8_Nate by Christina R Adams opens as Nate is about to graduate high school. Instead of being excited, he's overwhelmed by anxiety, self-doubt, and a deep sense of isolation. To make matters worse, his parents don’t even bother showing up to see him get his diploma. They’re off on a trip. As painful events pile up, Nate struggles to believe he has value or purpose. Convinced he's a disappointment and wanting the pain to end, he attempts to take his own life. To him, surviving feels like one more failure. Despite thinking he's alone, Nate finds himself surrounded by people like Grace, Marty, and his online friend Rex. They give him quiet support that starts to change his outlook. Will Nate learn to accept the help being offered? And can he find a reason to keep moving forward when everything seems lost?
Maya Angelou said, "We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." That idea fits Nate in Gr8_Nate by Christina R Adams perfectly because his biggest changes need to happen beneath the surface. I almost passed on this book because of its subject matter, but I'm so glad I didn't. It quickly became one of those novels I couldn't put down. I just had to know what would happen to Nate. There were so many moments when I just wanted to reach out and tell him he wasn't alone. Adams wasn’t afraid to show readers his darkest thoughts. Instead, she wrote those moments as realistically as she could. The ending left me feeling satisfied without taking away anything the characters had worked through. The writing was natural, and Nate felt like a genuine person, not just a character. Anyone drawn to emotionally honest coming-of-age stories about mental health and finding hope will want to pick up this one. Some parts may be difficult to read, but it was such a rewarding story overall. It stayed with me long after the final page.
