Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I really enjoyed this book, however to those that are impatient for the characters to meet, they might get frustrated that this doesn't happen until halfway through. Overall, I thought the story was very well executed, and I enjoyed both POV's immensely. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Many thanks to Penguin Group for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me. The pacing was just a little to slow for my ADHD mind. It didn't make me NEED to find out what was next. I also felt that this book was confusing.

The main characters don't meet until well after the halfway mark and that was just very slow burn for me.

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of the book, but just did not enjoy it in the way that I had hoped I would.

DNF. I felt like this book was just trying to be horny and edgey. The characters don't even meet till like the half way point. Didn't enjoy it.

This was deeply romantic and heart-felt. It's a story about two people who keep finding each other and falling in love in different lifetimes. I enjoyed the past glimpses of them falling in love, as well as the current lives they were living.
The characters were realistic and relatable. The story flowed nicely.

This is the kind of book that restores your faith in humanity and allows you to hope for a better world.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this ARC before it releases.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Oh, David. You always know just the right words to say to BREAK ME IN HALF. Shosh's backstory killed me and the way that Evan took care of Will warmed my cold, dead heart. The love and chemistry between them set me on fire. Also, the fact that he wrote ORIGINAL SONGS that were absolutely beautiful is the best thing I've ever seen in a book. If only I could hear them! This is a book that will stick with you for a long time. If you're a fan of his prose, star crossed lovers, and a beautiful story, don't miss this.

Poetic, dreamy, meandering prose takes the reader on a slow ride through these characters' lives.

This is a beautiful book, but it takes some work to get into it. I spent the first few pages confused on who the characters were and how they related to each other. Arnold doesn't introduce characters so much as throw the reader headlong into their stream of consciousness. The main characters take a while to meet, but everything's building towards that momentous moment.

Shosh's angry after her sister's death caused her to lose everything. Stevie was her moon: the person she centered her whole being on. She's floundering, having refused to follow her previous dream of going to college and pursuing theater in the aftermath of her grief. Through the haze of alcohol, she begins to hear a mysterious singer with lyrics that seem to be leading her to something.

Evan's struggling with his dad walking out on the family, especially after the mom's cancer diagnosis doesn't bring him back. Most of all, he's struggling with how to take care of William, his brilliant, sensitive seven-year-old brother, who does things like build a spaceship in his room, cover himself in Band-aids and watch ET every Tuesday night for years. I just wanted to give him a hug. Evan's prepared to sacrifice his own future to take care of them, but when he begins to hear a mysterious singer, his whole world's set off kilter.

The story of Shosh and Evan is interspersed with stories of them being brought together time and again in past lives, only for the romance to be short-lived due to tragedy. It leaves the reader rooting for their souls to finally find long-lasting happiness this time.

Arnold has a insightful, visionary way of stating things, crafting lines that stuck with me long after I'd finished the book.

An example of a passage that stuck out to me:
“Things have a way of taking on the lives of those around them, so when someone in the house betrays you, it's a betrayal multiplied in perpetuity: your favorite book turns to drivel; coffee in space-related paraphernalia, undrinkable; couches, unsittable. And when the betrayer walks out the front door for the last time, you'll have to dig a tunnel under the house, or exit through the chimney, because fuck that door.”

These beautiful, troubled characters find healing in each other. I loved the ways characters loved and supported each other wholeheartedly throughout this book: Evan has Ali and Shosh has Ms. Clark. It's Arnold's ability to draw out the human beauty in us all that made the ending of the book so touching.

EVERY character felt like a manic pixie dream girl. Unrealistically quirky, existing only to serve the author's ego which manifested itself in his bloated prose.
The pacing was HORRIBLE.
Minor spoilers, but the main characters...the center of this apparently incredible love story, the ones literally on the cover...don't even meet till like 60% through the book. WHAT?!

Also, I have a hard time believing a 17 year old boy would compare himself to the heart eyes emoji.



Thanks to penguin random house and netgalley for this arc.