crystal maldonado's THE FALL OF WHIT RIVERA is the perfect YA coming-of-age romance for fall. in this story, we follow our type-a, bicon, fall enthusiast FMC whit as she navigates through what was supposed to be her PERFECT senior year in high school (spoiler alert: it doesn't go as planned).

this book is a love letter to autumn full of chronic illness rep, queer rep, wholesome family cooking sessions, boyband stans, dance parties, PSLs, and gilmore girls references. i really fell in love with the characters and their various relationships. TFOWR is a book all about love: familial love, platonic love, romantic love, self love, and of course the love of fall and everything that comes with this cozy season.

i really did love this book. i could not put it down. that being said, i'm having trouble describing how it reads. our characters are high schoolers, but sometimes how they were feeling felt very middle grade while simultaneously communicating with more emotional intelligence than most adults. i absolutely love the example being set, but i feel like this messed with the flow just a little bit (obviously not enough to deter me from reading it in two sittings-- maybe i am just being picky).

overall, this was a great read and i will be picking up a physical copy for my shelves ❤️

tysm netgalley and and holiday house for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!