Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I thought I’d branch out & read a more YA novel, and I wish I hadn’t. Too many F words, drugs, etc. I guess I did have fair warning at the beginning though- there’s a content warning about a mile long. The narration was a bit confusing because it changed format so much. Moon and Maggie’s perspective, journal entries randomly italicized, letters from Lexy…. Just wasn’t my cup of tea but I’m sure other people would like it.

I am slightly torn about what to rate this book as I struggled to get through the first half, but really enjoyed the second, so I'll give it a 3.5 stars rounded up.

This book is about two lives that get intertwined in the midst of messed up events, that of Maggie Lomax and Adam Moon's.

In the beginning, Maggie mentions her old diary and most of the chapters about her in the first two parts definitely read like a journal, like she was just throwing random memories at our faces. It was kind of chaotic, but having now finished the book, I wonder if it was intentional. I mean, Maggie's and Moon's life definitely felt like a series of questionable decisions, but it all worked out in the end.

The book touches on political and religious issues, and the characters who have to navigate the complexity of living in a country where the leaders have dangerously outdated beliefs. Adding to that grief and mental illness, I think the author did a good job at conveying all the different emotions and how difficult it can be for people (especially teens/young adults) who long to escape such a climate.

The common thread (or the golden thread, as Maggie would call it) during the whole story has been the death of a dear friend, and I loved that it ends with this event bringing the protagonists together once more to get some sort of closure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

Sometimes your friends break your heart the most.

This line instantly intrigued me and made me want to read more. Let me just start with we all need a best friend like ALexandra to help us get back up when we fall down.

When Maggie meets Adam, she is finally starting to feel better, but then he disappears. When she gets an offer to travel abroad, she thinks this is her new start, but things don't always go as planned. I won't say much more about this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery surrounding what happened to Adam, the friendship between Alexandra and Maggie and all of the cool traveling Maggie got to do while abroad. Definitely a nice summer beach read with a STUNNING cover.

Thank you netgalley and Francesca Vespa for the chance to read this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.