This book took me completely by surprise to become one of my top reads of the year.

The more I read, the clearer it becomes what sets a book apart for me—by the end I feel an ache in my chest like my heart just grew a size to make room for that particular story and characters. This was one of those books for me.

Written as part-fiction, part-memoir, Helen Hoang takes us on Anna’s journey of finding love—but more importantly, finding mental health clarity after an autism diagnosis, confidence and self-love. This is a very heavy read, but an extremely important one. I learned so much about her particular day-to-day challenges, masking, and autistic burnout. This also covers family dynamics in Asian culture and the physical, mental and emotional tolls of caring for a sick parent at home.

The wonderful light in this story was her relationship with Quan, who now joins Tate from Where the Crawdads Sing as my top romance BFs. Their romance was so beautiful. I loved the compassion and devotion Quan had for her, the ways in which he helped her discover herself, and you could really feel their chemistry. Helen is the Queen of the Kiss as far as I’m concerned!