Trigger Warnings: domestic abuse, coerced sex, unhealthy relationship dynamics, disordered eating, suicide

After finishing this book, I rewatched the trailer to the TV series, which labelled the love between Connell and Marianne as a forbidden romance. While I don't know if the series is referring to the different socioeconomic classes the two characters are in, I don't think that forbidden is the right word.

Connell and Marianne's love story is a classic will-they-won't-they and I'm not going to lie, that's a trope you can always get me hooked on. I'm calling it a love story for the sake of classification, because in all honesty, I don't really consider it to be a romantic story. It's codependence forged through trauma and adolescent/young adult aimlessness, a codependence that might fit well, but also might go up in flames.

It's a quick read that still kicks you where it hurts, and while you may not feel envious of the love Connell and Marianne feel for each other, you empathize with them deeply and hope that they try to make it work for once. Connell is an idiot most of the time and Marianne is too riddled by the weight her life has thrown on her to kick his ass once in a while. Were this book longer or differently paced, I would have been furious at them both. But given the short timeframe of the plot and how easy this book read, I didn't really mind it. I wish them both the best, because at the end of the day, I still hope that they figured things out.