This book was honestly excellent. Like so many other coming-of-age stories following twenty-somethings, this book is equal parts messy as it is heart-warming. Despite this not being plot heavy, I never felt that this dragged. Not once. Instead, the relationships explored here are so layered and complex that I was interested from beginning to end. The book deals with familial relationships, platonic relationships, work relationships, romantic relationships and relationships with self, and it does all this to show the different hues of love. And although there isn’t a massively detailed plot, a lot happens. A lot in the way of human-beings being inherently flawed.

I especially loved that the author chose to have Rachel, our narrator/main character, tell us this story through an introspective narrative; having Rachel recount her early-twenties with the privilege of hindsight helped to add another layer of depth to the story. She’s a married woman speaking to us about her early twenties, when she was a new graduate floundering through life and trying to find out who she is outside of a classroom. I especially enjoyed how Rachel was surrounded only by people older than her; as a twenty-one year old, she operates under the guise that everyone around her has their lives together because of their age and that is the standard from which she judges herself. However, as the book progresses, it becomes clear that this adult perfection she has grown obsessed with finding in the people in her inner circle doesn’t actually exist. That’s what the book does so well: it explores the messiness, the uncertainty of adulthood at varying ages. 

And the fact that this book is actually funny? Argh. I didn’t full-belly laugh but I was definitely amused from cover to cover and I found myself snorting a lot as well.