Rating: 4.2 stars
Thank you NetGalley for providing this arc. This book follows Megh as she navigates life in a toxic household, while struggling with her mental health. On top of all that she has a rain cloud following her around.
I really enjoyed reading about Megh and Lev’s relationship develop throughout the book. I also found Megh’s connection with her cousin Sadia and her friend Emily really sweet.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an arc in exchange for my honest review!

now, let’s get into it.

this book is just the perfect depiction of depression. and it felt like a breath of fresh air. i feel like mental health has definitely become easier to talk about in real life and other forms of media we consume, but i still feel like there is a lot of inaccurate representation.

we have megh, who is a girl suffering from depression, living in a house with her two basically ready to explode parents. she’s doing her best to get out and away from them, which honestly that’s the only option for a lot of people, and to start her life at her dream school. but yet, she is still having cold feet.

and then you have oh so sweet lev 😫 he’s literally all the green flags there ever was put into one person. he’s there to help megh through her ups and downs. and even when she reaches a crossroad, he nudges her in the direction he knows she needs to go.

i just love love love this story. and i cannot wait to see what else this author has in store.

First I have to take a moment to compliment the cover, that has to be the prettiest book cover I've ever seen, I'm obsessed. Now onto the book.
I like when the characters are smart. Megh doesn't know why the cloud happened but she immediately clocks that it is attuned to her emotions and finds a way to deal with it. To me it seems believable, and that's something I love about Tashie's writing, her characters feel real.
I related to the main character from the get go, I somewhat understood her home life and I was rooting for her to get to go far away as she wanted. I really wanted to see her succeed. I got really invested really fast, to the point I felt deeply all her emotions. I love LOVE Lev, he is such a perfect character, he made me laugh in a love confession I didn't even think it was possible.
To be fair Right as Rain made me incredibly emotional throughout the entire book. I lost count of how many times I cried. This was a very painful book, but it was also comforting and hopeful at times. A bit like a hug and a “everything will be okay eventually”, and I appreciate it more than I can say.
The cameos from I'll pretend you're mine characters made me miss that book so much(it's still a favorite of the year btw).
One thing about this author's books is that they always leave me wanting more(I would quite literally read thousands of pages, the characters' entire lives even), and this one is no different. I was absolutely not ready for it to be over, I don't feel ready to leave these characters. When I saw “acknowledgements” I when to the previous page because I couldn't believe it was over already. I don't know if I devoured it or if it is just a short book.
Ps: whatever you do DO NOT listen to Matilda by Harry Styles while reading this book, I did this mistake and I had to take a break for crying.

Thank you so much to Tashie for another perfect book, as long as you're writing I'll be reading. Also thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for the ARC!

I usually LOVE Tashie’s books, but I sort of knew going into this one that it wouldn’t be for me.

Firstly, I’ve never loved a book that’s 90% normal with one random magical plot point that’s never really explained. It’s why One Last Stop was not the book for me either. It always ends up feeling a little ridiculous to me, and this book was unfortunately not the exception.

Secondly, I did not enjoy reading from the MC’s POV. I have sympathy for her and I understand that many people will relate very heavily to her experiences— I am not denying these things. However, she’s such a drag to live in the mind of. The first 40% of the book was just catastrophizing and anxiety over, frankly, stupid decisions. I do not deny the realistic element to it, but it just made the book feel like a chore. Again, I’m not a monster, I have compassion and understanding for Megh and people in her scenario, it just did not make for a good reading experience for me.

Now, all that said, this book is not atrocious by any means. I have a feeling there are many people who will love it very dearly. As usual, Tashie writes in such a fluid and natural way that reading her works is a breeze. I finished this in well under 24 hours. The many cameos and connections to her other works are also very appreciated. The romantic relationship is sweet, if slightly rushed, and I liked how it wasn’t treated as a cure all for mental illness.

All this to say, I did not particularly like this book, but it will definitely not discourage me from picking up Tashie’s next book the moment it’s released. She’s still a wonderful writer with a great talent for depicting romance. This book just didn’t click for me. It felt very personal and that’s not a bad thing. Can’t wait to see what she drops next!

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!