Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

The language is incredibly raw in terms of f bombs, however they suit this story of young adults trapped with the aid of parental ghosts and expectations. Dee is the manufactured from a violent father and a currently deceased mother who abandoned her native American heritage. Couple those with a self-negative half of brother and a mystery he does not realize how an awful lot it shames him, and he's a mess. Naya is an handiest child whose parents are overly religious and protective. once they circulate to the town where Dee lives and the 2 young adults emerge as volunteering the summer season between their junior and senior years of excessive college, it's in the beginning a prickly dating, then one that is bumpy, but abruptly suitable for each of them. general, a totally exciting examine with a few amazing insights into the convolutions of human behavior.

This books had a lot of important topics written throughout the book, death of a parent, rape and more, definitely look up triggers before hand!

This book had a lot of diversity within in it, including race, and with the book mainly being LGBTQ+.

I loved the concept of the book but there was so much to unpack as the book went on, I don’t think I was able to fully grasp onto the whole story.

I believe that the story could have gone more in-depth if it didn’t have so many topics being displayed at once. But in the end I enjoyed it, but not to the extent that I hoped to.

I liked the premise of the story but it didn't quite work out for me. While it was a character heavy/character driven story, I found it hard to connect with the characters and their actions. There was a lot going on but none felt well-developed or captivating enough. The dialogues felt overly juvenile. The writing 'told' more than it 'showed' and that's what frustrated me the most. It didn't feel like I was experiencing a story.

I initially found the storyline challenging to get into, but once I figured out all of the characters (there are a lot) and how their stories fit together I was deeply invested. I thought the focus of the book would be on the woman in the nursing home but the characters’ own backstories seemed to take over. I was slightly disappointed not to have resolution about Marie but I appreciated the growth of the other characters. The author tackled heavy situations from a variety of perspectives and didn’t shy away from portraying realistic emotions. I thought this was a great YA read. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced e-reader copy. #NetGalley

Inspired by a true story, after Dee’s mom dies he ends up living with his alcoholic, sometimes abusive brother. Dee meets Naya and they both become friends as they volunteer at a nursing home and work with a woman, Marie,who has Alzheimer’s. As Dee and Naya become more than friends, issues from both their pasts come up which threaten their friendship. Marie tells them peace of mind comes from within, and they realize they can’t depend on anybody because people change. Naya knows her past is looking forward to the future, and Dee knows he can have a new life and move onward and upwards.