In Savannah Espinoza’s small New Mexico hometown, kids either flee after graduation or they’re trapped there forever. Vanni never planned to get stuck — but that was before her father was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, leaving her and her mother to care for him. Now she doesn’t have much of a plan at all: living at home, working as a performing mermaid at a second-rate water park, distracting herself with one boy after another.
That changes the day she meets Leigh. Disillusioned with small-town life and looking for something greater, Leigh is not a “nice girl.” She is unlike anyone Vanni has met, and a friend when Vanni desperately needs one. Soon enough, Leigh is much more than a friend. But caring about another person threatens the walls Vanni has carefully constructed to protect herself, and brings up the big questions she’s hidden from for so long.
With her signature stunning writing, the author of The Mystery of Hollow Places has crafted a story of first love, and the ways in which the deepest parts of us are hidden, even from ourselves.
Order LIKE WATER from Bookshop, HarperCollins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and more.
Add LIKE WATER on Goodreads.
Praise for LIKE WATER:
"As much about self-discovery as it is about love, this moving coming-of-age tale is an ideal choice for fans of Nina LaCour's We Are Okay."
—Booklist
"Vanni's well-crafted arc ends powerfully when she makes a hard choice in order to finally take charge of her life. Also well-handled are Leigh's genderqueer identity and Vanni's bisexuality, through which Podos affirms that identity is something people come to in their own time, on their own terms ... A worthwhile addition to collections of contemporary romance with depth."
—Kirkus
"As with her debut, Podos proves she’s got major skills in crafting heartachey father-daughter relationships, a rarity in a category in which fathers are more often than not relegated to the background. And as with her debut, I loved this book."
—B&N Teen Blog
"This is a fabulous book and a quiet one about sexual identity, the fluidity therein, and it features a character who identifies as gender queer ... Bonus points to this one for Vanni having one of the most awesome/ridiculous summer jobs possible."
—Book Riot ("The Best Books We Read in August")
“Rebecca Podos continues to stun. Like Water is a tender, gorgeously written story, one of the most moving novels I've ever read.”
—Karen Fortunati, author of The Weight of Zero
"Written with humor and genuine emotion, Like Water is a resonant coming-of-age story that offers a compelling look at first love, personal identity, and the struggle to overcome self-imposed boundaries."
—Caleb Roehrig, author of Last Seen Leaving