Underneath the Sycamore Tree

By: B. Celeste

Narrated by: Christian Drerup

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

It happened in stages.

My father left.

My twin sister died of an incurable autoimmune disease.

My mother started breaking down.

Then I was diagnosed with the very thing that took my other half from me.

That was when I realized Mama’s eyes turned gold when she cried.

So I moved in with my father and his new family - new wife, new son, new stepbrother.

Kaiden Monroe made me feel normal.

Hated. Cared for. Loathed. And...loved.

Somewhere along the way, I’d found solace in the boy with brooding eyes.

But everything happens in stages.

And nothing good ever lasts.

©2019 Barbara Celeste Doyle (P)2020 Barbara Celeste Doyle

Meh

No tears AT ALL! There weren’t enough moments experienced with the main characters. It was a ton of tell and not show from this author. She told us how Kaiden did all these sweet things and how the relationship grew, but I witnessed none of them. I’m glad i didn’t get the chance to become emotionally attached to these characters. It was just meh.

MUST READ!! Amazing and heartfelt story ❤️❤️

This book was absolutely amazing!! Wonderful love story while telling about a terrible disease and struggles one has to deal with. This book also tells about loss and grief, the impact it has on a family. Have a tissue box ready for this one ❤️

love it

this book is talked about for older young adults, but even though it’s heavy topics are traditionally not for younger children i think this book is made for tweens, i truly enjoyed it and listend to it in two days, though, it’s definitely a younger book- beautiful little love story of family’s healing as grief plagues them all

Not impressed

I skipped through the sex scenes. I don’t think so much of the detail was needed. Also, I hated that the author chose to allow the step siblings to get involved in a sexual relationship. It was weird.

Do not Recommend

I was extremely disappointed in this book. It remained flat for me the entire book. ewh.

***Entire Review is full of Spoilers***

Well this one was a let down. It was a good story, for what it was. That being a coming of age story about a terminally ill girl. My problem is that it wasn't a good story for what it is SUPPOSED to be. This book is sold as a romance. At the time that I'm writing this, it's currently sitting at #279 in the Kindle Store, under the Romance section. That is actually really high up there. The issue I am having is, this is not a romance. Those, by definition have an HEA. Now, I'm a firm believer that not all HEAs have to look the same, that doesn't have to mean that a couple ends up together. An HEA could be that they are happy apart from each other, maybe with new people or happy just being friends instead of lovers. What isn't an HEA, is the main character ending up dead and the "romantic interest" (more on that in a second) moving on with life but in an angry and unsatisfying way. It sounds like he never gets any resolution of her death, and he isn't happy with someone new. Add to that, I'm not really sure that either character ever even fell in love with each other. At the end, on her deathbed, she was still referring to him as her best friend, never admitting to her family that she was in love with him, or even interested in him in that way. She chose him to be her first (only!) I think just because he was there, and didn't know about her illness, so it wouldn't be awkward for him. Except that she ended up being so uncomfortable that it WAS awkward. And so bad, that they only tried it again once, and neither seemed too put off by that. I'm not saying that all romances need to be overflowing with sex scenes, I have no problem with fade-to-black or behind-closed-door books, but this wasn't that, it was just lacking steam, and in my opinion, it lacked any romance that should be in, well, a romance book.

As far as the audiobook goes, it was well done, and the narrator did a great job with this character. I do wish the Epilogue would have been done by a guy though, as it was through K's eyes, and not Ems

Fast read

I thought this book was so well written. The characters truly define. I loved it.

This is the saddest and most beautiful book I’ve ever read

You will feel so much reading this book. I cried, laughed and frowned so much during this book. There were some scenes where I felt like I was there. I love Kaiden so much, he was the perfect boy. Their friendship was so admirable, just wow. I was crying so much during the end my family looked at me like I was crazy. I will admit that I still feel a pain in my chest over this book, it physically hurt. B celeste you are so talented. I can’t explain how perfect you made each sentence, I don’t know how you did it honestly. Well, if you’re in the mood to be completely gutted read this book🤍

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

I read the reviews and knew it would be a tear jerker. As someone with an Immune Disease (Crohn's) it was especially hard to listen too. I could relate in so many ways, especially when she talked about people not understanding because you don't look sick. The book was well written and the narration was good. I loved the story between Em and Kayden, he loved her soo very much. It makes me wonder if there are truly any boys that age that could be as giving as he was. At that age especially, boys are so immature and selfish.

Love this book ! 🧡

This book gives you all the feels ! Em & Kaiden will forever have my heart. I love their story. It makes you smile and weep like a Nicholas Sparks book. It’s so good. I could not believe that B.Celeste was a newer author.