Wow, it's super rare to me that a heavily-recommended and uber-loved book manages to over-deliver. And it's even rarer for a book to so beautifully balance real, awful, hard things with THE most giddiness-inducing stuff. Two moments in this stood out to me as peak romance, which also felt so joyous to me - one of which was Shane's absolute THRILL at meeting Eva's daughter. It is so fuckin sweet?? and I never see books capture that wonder of meeting a version of a person you love. 

Anyway. The tough parts were tough, yes, but didn't ever feel heavy-handed or deliberately dark to me, which I think was a feat. And the bright parts were so, so bright.