I initially gave up on this because I wasn’t in the mood for what started off as a teen romance. Book club convinced me it was better than that and they were right.

Things I liked: the writing style is deliberate and unusual, but still very easy to read. The author puts in lots of quite mundane details about what people are doing but the effect on the prose is quite lovely and refreshing. There is a strong sense of realism as a result that I liked.

Things I didn’t like: there’s something about the popularity dynamic shift between the characters that feels unnatural and simplistic for me. It’s still possible to suspend belief and enjoy the story though.