My overall impression is that this is a nice, heartfelt read. 3.5 Stars

The premise is that three young adults in a 1900s village in Norway create their own found family after their community basically shuns them. (Although, in reality, there are four of them. Not sure why they leave one character out of this.). Their way of life flies in the face of this traditional Christian town because none of them want to conform for everyone else's "comfort."

I really enjoyed that we get to witness each of these characters coming into their own, rather than being thrust into the midst of it. This book shines in showing personal and intra-personal conflicts. I also love that the author lovingly constructs this family where internally they accept themselves and each other, despite the town.

The story itself is simple and character-driven, and there's a lot to love about these reckless youths.

Let's address the elephant in the room: it's billed as a diverse cast, and it IS, however, it is not racially diverse. I think the representation the book does show is great, however, I also think it's important to identify or other readers WHO is being represented. Each and every protagonist (which is great, you don't see that often) is either LGBTQIA, has a physical disability, or struggles with mental illness. In several cases, there's overlap. We even get an awesome Ace character who is portrayed really well. While I think there could have been room for more racial diversity, it seems to have been a choice based on time period and location.

Also, the author shares some really interesting historical insight at the end of the book as to how she chose to represent certain disabilities, to be more correct for the time period without also being ableist. I think this is phenomenal and should be the norm for authors. It's proof that you don't have to resort to slurs just because they may have been historically accurate.

(Although I did find it weird to keep referring to the Pagans as heathens....they even called themselves that.)

All in all, it's a sweet story about marginalized teens who form deep familial bonds and support each other. Even when it's hard, and it feels like the world is against them.

It's kind of hard to put my finger on what would have made this a GREAT book instead of just a GOOD book, for me. The dual perspectives also confused me at times. However, I know this will be a great book that many people will see themselves in. I myself related to Asta on many levels.

Content Warning: physical abuse, suicidal ideation, dark humor (joking about suicide), animal abuse. All in all, fairly mild, except one of the protagonist's constant talk about offing himself did bother me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

A well executed, well told story that pulls on the heartstrings and excites at the same time. A captivating plot and a truly enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed the concept of this story and thought it was an intriguing setting but unfortunately some aspects did felt a little flat in the execution and I felt that the dialogue jarred with me as being too modern. Perhaps it was the author’s intention to use modern dialogue and at least there was not a whole host of “thou” and “dost” etc, which would have been equally jarring.

I enjoyed this book as it had well written characters and portrayed, what I believe, is an accurate representation of sometimes your chosen family being the ones who get you through life. The heart and soul of this book is more based in the characters themselves than the actual plot line which is why I am giving it 4/5 stars. I would be willing to see a second book with the same trio with a more interesting plot.

**Thanks to the NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

A charming slow-burn of a book. I grew to love the central characters (especially Asta) and admire how determined they were to live their own lives despite strict social expectations. Some big issues (sexuality, disability, life-altering injuries) were tackled sensitively and, reading the author's notes, mostly from an "own voice" perspective.

I hope there will be a sequel, I'm not ready to leave these characters behind.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review,

There was so much I loved about this book. The Norwegian setting. The queer rep. The disabled rep. The chosen family. Asta and the boys, Erlend and Gunnar. Their love for each other. And their decision to choose who they want to be.

Although it took me a while to get into this book and the dual POV (it just felt slow at times and I wasn’t feeling what I wanted to feel, or what I knew I should be feeling), it eventually clicked and I couldn’t put it down. This book really made me reflect on things in life, and I love and appreciate that. The characters in this book defy societal traditions and remain authentic despite immense pressure to conform. This book had heart, and although the plot left something to be desired, the true investment is in the story and the characters. And this one met that head on.

While there were a number of things I really liked about this, especially in regards to the queer and disabled rep, there were a few choices the author made that I wish had been done differently.

Firstly: the romance. I think it would have been better if it was already established instead of happening super quickly 40 pages in. In fact, that’s what I thought I was getting from this book based on the jacket copy.

Secondly: Gunnar and Erlend call each other by their last names which felt awkward most of the time. There was a good beat as a result of this later in the novel, but I don’t think it was worth the 200+ pages before it.

It felt more like these things happened because the author wanted to do something later in the plot, than them being a natural occurrence due to these characters in these circumstances.

I thought that the author did a great job bringing the characters in this story to life. If you are a character driven reader and the premise sounds good, definitely give this one a try.

Asta, Gunnar, and Erlend forge their own paths and craft their own family in rural Scandinavia in 1904 - a time and place where being queer and disabled makes many locals - including their own families - treat them like outcasts. The richly-detailed setting, the love and compassion for animals, and the MCs' devotion to each other shine! Thank you to Soho Teen for the eARC.

This was a very sweet short read. I loved reading the author’s explanations, both at the beginning and end of the book that detailed her decisions in creating characters that represented a variety of deviations from the societal norms of the time period. It’s so rare to get diverse representation in historical fiction, especially in regards asexual representation and disability representation. The book was slow paced at times and I found myself more interested in Astra and her storyline than I did with the boys. Overall, if you’re looking for a fluffy found family read about a group of imperfect different “sinners” working together to save a family farm, this is the read for you!

I have been unable to read this book. Every time I open it on my phone - where I read all other books from NetGalley too - I only see blank pages. It's annoying. I tried downloading it on my laptop but it says the file is not supported. I reached out to the publisher, they don't seem to know a lot about this too and clearly couldn't resolve the issue. So, this ain't a review but just something I had to highlight. This is why I have not deducted any rating from 5 stars as I haven't read it. Thanks!