Lowercase

by Hayley Halliwell

Things can't go wrong if you have a plan, right? Ellessy Porter has everything planned out for her and her best friend, Lilah. Go to college, focus on school, don't fall in love, graduate, get jobs, and then start on their "happily ever afters". But things change when Ellessy wakes up in the hospital to discover that Lilah is gone, her mother is in a coma, and the car accident they were in also left her with life-altering injuries. After having to make the difficult decision to invite her estranged aunt into her home, Ellessy's new plans are glaringly get better before Mom wakes up and finds her there. Oh, and maybe don't fall for the cute guy who took her place at work. Love definitely isn't in the plans now.

218 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 14, 2025

Reviews

[Micca B aka gigglybookgeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was honored to be able to be an ARC reader for Hayley. Lowercase is a teen/YA book that hit me like a ton of bricks. We really go through and feel the loss and anxiety Ellessy goes through after an accident that changes almost every aspect of her life. The relationship with the aunt she had never met really was great to see, as well as Milo from the bookstore. A sweet romance in the middle of a story about real life and how pain and loss impacts you. I definitely shed some tears, laughed out loud, got far too excited about skeeball, and agreed with Ellessy on the frustration of people putting books back in the wrong places. Don’t do that!

The title of the book will mean so much to you as you read the story. Hayley did a fantastic job in unraveling this story, and taking you through all of the emotions of a real-life, realistic journey. Teens to adults, pick this one up!

[Cecilia de Alvarado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellessy was ready to start adulthood, go to college, fall in love, until she wakes up and finds out her best friend is gone and her mom is in a coma. She now has to navigate life in her new reality, between grief and love, finding balance and letting herself be happy again.

This book was such a lovely piece to read!

Hayley made me feel seen and understood by showing us Ellessy through all her fears and confusion as she grieved and felt pain but needed to move forward and struggled with the thought of perhaps smiling again.

Reminiscing "Days in the Morisaki Bookshop", this easy yet powerful story makes you feel with Ellessy and want to hold her hand while her world falls a part, knowing that in the end, life goes on and she'll be alright.

If you want to be in your feels and reflect on how life hits us sometimes and how we overcome those moments, this book is for you!

It's definitely a 5- star recommended read.

[Joey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because I loved the idea of a disabled love story and this was so beautifully written that I fell in love with the characters and the way the story was so beautifully woven through the words. Elle and Milo were so cute, and I just loved the realness of disability and mental health issues and while I would warn people who read that it does not shy away from these things, it's done so well that you can't help but just dive in, turn the page, feel the hurts and live for it all. Very much recommended!

[Sarah Stafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lowercase

This was a short quick read for me. I think Hayley did a good job with concisely describing the grief and survivor’s guilt.
I definitely am past my point of reading about 18 year olds. I like to be able to relate to a main character and when they are that young I can’t.