My heart ached with and for Grace from "The Leading Edge of Now" as I read her story. Grace was raped, then her dad died, and she spent two years in foster care. When her uncle gains custody of her the world changes to black and white to an ambiguous gray. Who was responsible for the rape? Why did it take Grace's uncle two years to seek out custody?

Marci Lyn Curtis did an excellent job of portraying Grace's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the symptoms of that disorder. Interwoven with the pain and PTSD was Grace's grief over losing the one parental figure that she had known in her life. This book moved me to tears multiple times. As someone who was sexually assaulted, I understand the triggers, flashbacks, and avoidance all too well. Sexual assault is a much too common story in our society but still a fairly taboo topic of conversation. Thank you, Marci, for boldly engaging with such a difficult topic.

There are no clear-cut answers in life and Marci reminds readers of that again and again as Grace seeks out things that are maybes. Sometimes you have to take the initiative and see what happens: good, bad or ugly. I appreciate that the ending wasn't a cookie cutter happily ever after. Life doesn't work that way. But it's still okay and there are good times mixed in with the hard days.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, breakups, death, grief, alcohol abuse