Started out “meh” then the plot kicks in at 13% and picks up the pace at about 25%. From there on it’s page-turning status. If I wanted to be petty, this book is a 4.5-4.8 LOL but I ain’t petty! Well, not today at least. This book is a 5.

The book is very dialogue driven, so it’s a quick read. The descriptions are just enough to get you imagining but not so detailed where you’re thinking, “ok, was this worth sacrificing plot time for?”

What I LOVE about this book are the numerous short stories within the story, as the MC is a storyteller. Literally it’s the biggest part of her job—storytelling.

The entire book is written from the MC’s perspective and she does not always do the right thing, so you are forced to take on her perspective that you will find yourself wanting to run away from at times, cos she can be so fucking wrong.

But you’re on that journey with her and for a while I kept thinking “Gods, I wanna rate this book so low cos I feel so forced to be one with this desperate woman who only thinks of herself.” But that’s really incredible writing to make me feel that way. So it’s still a 5.

This is a YA novel and I can see why; there are a lot of lessons in it. But as a middle-aged adult reading a story told from the perspective of a middle-aged MC, truly this feels very suitable and relevant for adults to read. I would imagine we have more use for books on death than young adults. Also, this might be way too intense for a young adult who is dealing with death… speaking of which…

I will say, if you’re going through bereavement grief, this could be a tough read. It was for me as I just lost someone very VERY close, like family, a couple of months ago and my mom is aging and often talks about her death, so yeah… the book summary mentions death and make no mistake that this entire book is about death. At some point, I feel like everyone is just f-ing dying and yeah… big warning there if your wounds are still tender.