Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think there's lots of similar books out there in terms of teen romance, but Ciara Smyth managed to really be creative with the school romance trope and touch on a lot of important social issues along the way. Her protagonist, Aideen, was likable, relatable, but also flawed in such a beautiful real way. Aideen never felt like Ciara Smyth was trying to make her overly sympathetic or too unlikeable, She was just the right mixture of tough and broken I think a lot of readers can relate to. Her hidden struggles are something that are unfortunately all too common in education. But in addition to Aideen, Smyth managed to create a whole cast of authentic characters. And the overall message of it's okay to ask for help felt like something everyone needs a reminder of every once in a while.

I can see using this book in a classroom to talk about several issues, not just for its LGBTQIA+ representation (which is thankfully getting a little bit better recently), but also issues like class differences, dealing with troubled situations at home, falling out of friendships, and finding things in common with people that we might not otherwise think we would.