Check out my full thoughts and feelings on this episode of Snark Squad Pod

My review from the first time I read this was a placeholder, promising to come back once I was able to process my feelings. Two years later, I reared it and here I am. I'm standing by my four star review of this book, though full disclosure, I love this series. This first book is a little tricky. I think the first half of this novel kind of ambles along in a way that it's difficult to sink into, particularly because you aren't sure why you are supposed to care about these characters, this place and this story. After the halfway mark, things really started to come together for me.

I loved the way this was so clearly a biased story, framed by the disappearance of Lila. I like the tone and conversational style, the way it rambles in the way someone who were sitting down and trying to capture the beginning of a story might ramble. I loved that this was theme heavy, yet accessible. I loved that it was thick with every day events, yet felt mythic and suspenseful.

I think what it did best was place us, set us in a time, give us the feeling of growing up and gaining context of a world through growing up. I think that its weaknesses involved that laggy beginning and some ways it alienates the reader through how uncomfortable it could sometimes be to be in Elena's head. The best example of this is how disgusted Elena is by her mother's disability. It's supposed to fit into a larger theme of bodies and how uncomfortable Elena seems to be about her body and all bodies, but it fell flat for me.

It's difficult to talk about this as a single piece because of how closely each book ties into the next. It's a lot to ask for people to invest in this book, especially because it feels like a necessary first step to better things to come. The good news is, an adaptation is coming.