Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.

I DNFed this book. I thought it would be a melancholy, poetic story. It kind of is, but mostly it's about sex. Well, it's not *about* sex, per se, but most of what happens is sex or characters thinking about sex. I guess that's fine, it's just not what I expected or wanted. It's hard to see the relationship develop between the characters when all they're doing is having sex or thinking about how they want to have sex or thinking about the last time they had sex.

That's all well and good if you like that stuff, but I don't, nor was it what this book was advertised to be. I'm still giving it three stars because if you enjoy shallow sex with a depressing edge, you'll probably like this book. As it is, whatever the characters are sad about in the present time seems to be... because they're not having sex any more. Maybe I should knock it down to two stars, I don't know.

This was hard for me to finish. I kept getting the feeling that I was reading the novel Normal People by Sally Rooney. This was painful but I thought the writing was really good. At times I was extremely sad and wondered if I was going to get the ending that I wanted. Well, I did get the ending I wanted and I’m really glad I finished it. You’ll have to be brave to finish this one. The writing is excellent but the story is very emotional and I was on a roller coaster. It’s definitely not for everyone.
I recommend this book.
Thanks BooksGoSocial via NetGalley.

For a book that was supposed to be National Parks and PTSD, I found myself slightly bored. Don't get me wrong, but the writing is excellent. However there is a need to edit and to understand why the first few chapters consisted of moaning rather than actual self pity.

If you are in for a book that makes you want to pick the phone and complain, this would be the one for you.
There would also be a need for a warning label as throughout the plot, there are triggers for those dealing with anxiety of depression

I loved the cover. It’s the only reason I gave this book a shot. But pretty much from the start I could tell this wasn’t gonna be for me. Both characters lacked depth and I found it hard to believe they weren’t in high school. They were both pretty immature and had next to no chemistry despite the fact that they were very intimate. The relationship itself came across shallow so I didn’t care when things went south. The thing about this book was that sometimes the writing was beautiful and poetic while other times really strange, bordering on confusing. I had no idea why the characters liked each other. Also the MMC did not sound he was from Philly at all. By the time the story was ending I had already lost interest. Probably just not a book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc.

Wow, I was drawn to this book because of the cover and the premise blurb. I was expected some light-hearted fluff, but got so much more than that! It got serious and I was pretty surprised, but I really should have read the trigger warnings before I dove in.

The writing itself was beautiful and I enjoyed it very much. The ending was a little messy but for a debut author it was a little expected. I may have to do another read through when I'm in a different headspace!

I had really high hopes for this book. I was promised "heart-wrenching emotions" and a "a powerful and romantic journey" and, honestly, that sounded really appealing.

The prologue was very promising, too, introducing us to Phoebe, who seems to be struggling with her mental health, and providing us a glimpse into her complicated childhood. I was hooked.

While the blurb mentions explicit language and content, I didn't think it would be in the first chapter, so casually brought up before we even get to really meet our main characters. While I do understand that's a creative choice that might provide some readers with a very interesting insight into our new main characters and their relationship, I felt like it was just a really weird decision. It was too comfortable, too personal, and I personally couldn't get over it.

This book was really interesting. The actual story is pretty cool but the writing was a little confusing. I felt like I couldn't really tell what was going on with the dialogue most of the time. Some of the time it was obvious who was talking and who that person was talking to but then other times I was super confused. There are also a lot of long monologues. I really liked reading about the different national parks though. The descriptions of everything made me feel like I was actually there. It was pretty easy to get through but it definitely has some heavy topics so make sure you check your trigger warnings.

I wanted to DNFED it but I didn't

I found Phoebe annoying and juvenile, maddeningly spelling everything out rather than giving me two seconds to read between the lines. Kenzo is pretty standard rom com fare: he reads very much like a man written by a woman. I will say that at least the passages flow smoothly and without ambiguity, which are some of my biggest pet peeves as a reader. The book is definitely funny, which is a plus. I also enjoyed the way each chapter opened with coordinates and a little illustration--a nice touch. But this was never gonna be my jam. I tried!

Unfortunately not my favorite. The writing style was jarring and the male main character was pretty insufferable so I wasn’t rooting for the couple to get back together. Both characters read really young which made the vulgarity and frequent sex scenes feel awkward and immature. I typically enjoy emotional romance books but this one felt a bit forced and I wish it was developed more because the overall premise and formatting of the chapters was intriguing.

Thanks to netgalley for the free copy.
Unfortunately, this was a dnf for me.
Cause of the scene at the first chapter I just couldn't. Should I have given it more? maybe but I just couldn't. The characters gave me an ick.

I tried, I really did, but I ended up DNF-ing this one at 44%. I really struggled with the writing style, and I felt like it was really hard to understand. I tried to look past that for the sake of the characters, but I felt like I was reading about two people who wanted to be together and yet were staying apart for reasons that just didn’t seem like a good enough reason to stay apart. A lot of readers seem to enjoy this, though, so take my opinion for what you will.

As a teen librarian, I was mostly curious about this title for potential crossover appeal (although it will never be in my department's collection because of its explicit content) and I could imagine teens who like Colleen Hoover reading this just because of the narrative style (see below), and the characters definitely feel New Adult in their attitudes and preoccupations.

I found Phoebe annoying and juvenile, maddeningly spelling everything out rather than giving me two seconds to read between the lines. Kenzo is pretty standard rom com fare: he reads very much like a man written by a woman. I will say that at least the passages flow smoothly and without ambiguity, which are some of my biggest pet peeves as a reader. The book is definitely funny, which is a plus. I also enjoyed the way each chapter opened with coordinates and a little illustration--a nice touch. But this was never gonna be my jam. I tried!

3 ⭐️

(Trigger Warnings: Depression, self-harm, suicide and PTSD)

The title and cover art are what initially drew me into reading this book.

Overall, it was an emotional roller coaster reading this book in the will-they-won’t-they romance. The author has a beautiful writing style and an almost poetic-prose to show off introspective thoughts of characters. The thoughts that swirl around in Phoebe’s mind about her hatred for herself made my heart break and ache along with hers. The author does an excellent job portraying the characters’ feelings so that you love or ache along with them.

I will say the initial chapters of this book are very jarring and a bit vulgar. It almost turned me off to the book but I’m glad I stuck through them. The beginning tempo of the book doesn’t seem to match the rest of the story, and I think it would have been a bit more impactful for me without these elements.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I WAS SOBBING.

National Parks is a book about love, heartbreak, adventure, and getting to know yourself. It was filled with angst and emotion and just so raw. Tears welled up in my eyes so many times. It was BEAUTIFUL. I can’t believe I slept on this book. I’m most definitely going to go through the author’s backlog and read more of her writings.

Please prepare tissue while reading this book. 10/10 would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Deeply deeply emotional love story. I’m going to be thinking about it for a while. The angst, the reconnections and soulmates of it all! It was plenty heavy, please do heed trigger earnings but it was definitely a special read.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is beautifully written, so very emotional, and an absolute rollercoaster. I stopped for a moment when I saw on the copyright page the sensitivity warnings. I'd never noticed those in a book before and am so glad I saw them! It sort of prepared me for the abrupt beginning.

Honestly I wanted to read this book because I'm an avid visitor of the National Parks (one of those cool kids with the Passport that you stamp at each location) and I had to know what this was. I ended up really liking it, feeling for the characters and their journeys. Excitement, heartbreak, adventure, and discovering yourself, this book has it all. Especially the emotions, so prepare yourself for ups, downs, and everything in-between.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had really high hopes for National Parks, and really enjoyed the whole will they wont they sorta thing that Enzo and Phoebe had going on in the beginning. Unfortunately it got old quickly. It wasn't bad by any means, I really liked the writing style, just got bored with the characters.

“How do you tell someone over the phone you might want to die and feel better if you don’t survive the night?”

Twenty pages into National Parks, I had really high hopes for this book, and for Phoebe's character. The opening scene of this book worked so well for me – it thrusts you right into this moment at a dip in Phoebe’s mental state – I was entranced.

Unfortunately, this interest didn’t extend to the core relationship of the book. The shallow, sexual manner in which Phoebe and Enzo interact in the beginning was a little jarring to me. I knew what I was signing up for, but their exchanges felt more like a cheap porno playing out rather than the supposed meaningful relationship I’d been excited to explore. (Stilted, juvenile dialogue — “boobies”, exorbitant amounts of “babe,” constant references to genitals — heavy-handedness on sex rather than emotional connection). That, coupled with melodrama on both sides and social commentary that landed a few yards off for me, was what ultimately affected my enjoyment of this book. I was super intrigued by the premise of second-chance love and the opening — but the rest of this novel, well, that’s a whole different story.

Definitely heed the content warnings. Serious topics like mental health, domestic violence, etc. are discussed in this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was originally hooked by the description and I also loved (or still love) the cover. However, the story itself fell flat for me. There weren't enough description of the places they visited, the scenes were barely or not at all connected. It felt like we were just jumping from conversation to conversation. The conversations themselves felt sometimes very forced to me and the characters were so melodramatic I could not sympathize with them at all. It was all over for me when the female MC (I already forgot the name, whoopsie) gave her assistant drugs without her consent. Big fat no from me. I also strongly disliked how the author handled the attempt at the end. That is not how it feels to have depression and to end your life.

There were some beautiful lines for sure, but not enough to make up for the bad stuff.

This book DESTROYED me. It's raw and heartwrenching, poetic and sad, funny and loving, chaotic and messy, and it hurts so damn much.

Phoebe is a travel photographer, escaping her unhappy, abusive home where she struggled to breath. Instead, now she's able to travel, to see the world and find her place in it. Along the way, she meets Kenzo, and invites him to travel with her. Together, they have 4 years of a love she never thought she'd find.

Until Enzo tells her he needs to leave. That this life isn't enough for him anymore. He has his own reservations about leaving, so he decides the only way he can go is if he breaks her heart. Attacks all the insecurities she has, to make it really devastating.

Next comes years of them struggling to find a way to live without the other. Trying to learn how to go on without the other half of your soul, knowing that you found the one you were always meant to be with.

So many times they have a chance to give in. To fall back together and heal. Pride keeps them away. Anger at themselves, the need to find out who they are and love themselves.

I've always struggled with books where the characters love each other, but find ways that they can't be together. Instead, they keep hurting each other, making it harder until they're left with nothing more than simply trying to find a way to survive. I always want to shout "communicate"! For once, I finally got the slightest glimmer of how it might really be. A strange sort of sense to the madness.

While the writing was beautiful in ways, at times I struggled. To keep up with the mess, to understand where in the timeline I was. To separate past from present, reality to dream.

Serious trigger warnings, with a public shooting and attack, as well as attempted suicide. These are not shied away from. They are not handled delicately. They are violent and visceral and raw. They are heartbreaking.

There were parts of this I loved. That sat with me, as I tried to forever etch the beauty of the words, the raw feeling into every part of me. I cried (which doesn't happen often), tears soaking my pillow even after the final words had been read. Truthfully, I don't know if I"m recommending this, or simply trying to figure out how to survive it. I thought books like Love and Other Words (by Christina Lauren) or Some Mistakes Were Made (by Kristin Dwyer) had prepared me for this. Nothing could have prepared me for this.

If you enjoy books that force you to feel, that grab you and won't let go, that completely obliterate you, this is the one. Please mind the warnings in the description. You may find much of yourself in these pages, and if you are struggling, if you don't think you are enough, please call someone. Please don't drown alone. You deserve that much.