<b>— 3 stars ✰</b>

there’s a lot to like about this book. the representation, obviously. but also the complicated familial relationships, the struggles of applying to college and preparing for change, and more.

i graduated high school last year and i remember being really stressed about college apps. did i do enough? should i apply to more? what’s plan b or c or d? and i felt like this book did a good job of portraying the whirlwind that is fall and winter of senior year. 

it was also really ... refreshing? to see how different all the characters were. 
➳ <b>dawn</b> is a transgender girl with a passion for filmmaking. she’s constantly on the search for love but struggles with finding someone who makes her feel loved. her mother died a bit ago and her father struggles with depression.
➳ <b>georgia</b> is lesbian and seemingly madly in love with her girlfriend, jill. she’s worried about what might change after she graduates, and even more worried that she might not get into college. her mother is a single mom and has a new guy around, simone, who georgia finds herself ... struggling with.
➳ <b>edie</b> is queer, dating ben who is nonbinary. her parents are very christian and oppose queerness, so she hides it from them. this creates issues with her and ben, which she has to work through.

the relationships were complex and all so different, so i didn’t get tired of reading about all of their dynamics. as someone who doesn’t face the struggles of being queer, i found it really interesting to read about situations they find themselves in. i hadn’t even considered some of it before, so it was eye opening.

with that being said, there was also quite a bit that i didn’t like about this book.

number one was the writing. admittedly, i’m not really the target audience for this - i probably would have loved it if i read it five years ago. but the writing felt very juvenile for a book dealing with complicated topics. it felt choppy at times and the pacing was a little weird? the author also did a lot of showing rather than telling - paragraphs would summarize a conversation, where i would’ve rathered read the dialogue.

more on the pacing, the story overall felt fast paced, but some parts were extremely fast and others felt extremely slow. it felt like there were some unnecessary details thrown in some spots. my biggest complaint here was dawn moving on so fast after a traumatizing experience. she says she needs to take time for herself, but completely contradicted herself? idk it just threw me off.

overall this book wasn’t bad, but it was very forgettable for me. i enjoyed reading about characters so unlike myself, and so different from what you normally see in books. i’d probably even recommend this to someone younger looking to read an interesting lgbtq+ story. like i said, i would’ve enjoyed this a lot more if i was five years younger, so take that as you will.

thank you to netgalley + levine querido for an advanced copy!!