The best part of reviewing ARCs is getting a novel like this to read. Beautifully written, this is the story of Isabel, during her senior year at a thinly disguised version of Dartmouth (Wilder). Like so many coming of age novels, Isabel is drawn into the orbit of manipulative professors and classmates.

She questions her own sexual decisions and her talent. She witnesses the messiness of other people’s marriages. Ultimately, she becomes the prey of one of her professors. Isabel is a product of a difficult home, an aloof mother who died when Isabel was 12, and a father who was mired in work.

This is a story of grit and determination, getting past all the negatives. Ultimately, Isabel is faced with many decisions during the time of lost innocence and she has triumphed.

I loved this little treasure, thank you Netgalley!

As much as I believe that not everything an author writes in fiction is their personal belief, I can't let this one go. I don't actually know Florin's opnions on Israel, but I know I don't support an estate that is the cause of deaths of innocents in Palestine and are currently commiting war crimes against its residents, and I won't support a book that will talk about it as if it is a "saviour" estate. Free Palestine.