I’m just sitting here trying to write this through the tears after finishing this because wow. This books didn’t necessarily make me sad, it just made me feel a lot of things and I’m grateful for that. I really wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did after reading Looking For Alaska, but I found this story to be such a different experience. It handles themes of loss, grief, abandonment, friendship, and mental illness in such a refreshing way and all of that is wrapped up in beautiful writing.

Aza might be the most relatable character I’ve come across in a book for me personally. I could completely relate to the way she was constantly worrying about “silly” things and how her mind would spiral out of control despite her knowing how irrational she was being. The way this book describes the thoughts of an anxious person was incredibly poetic without romanticizing mental illness. It really made me feel less alone and I don’t think I’ve ever used more sticky notes in a book to tab quotes that I could relate to. This one just really hit home.

Overall, I really loved this book and especially Aza. I ended up not even caring that the mystery aspect was kept on the sidelines, as I was more invested in the characters and relationships of this story. I couldn’t recommend this one more to people looking for a great character driven story with a hint of mystery, even if you haven’t enjoyed John Green’s work in the past. I’ll end this with the two last sentences of the acknowledgments that really embody what I took away from this story.

“It can be a long and difficult road, but mental illness is treatable. There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.”

Favourite characters: Aza and Davis

Favourite Quote (it’s so hard to pick, I tabbed SO many pages): “All I want in this world is to keep you. Keep you from hurt, keep you from stress, all that.”