This was a good story, but difficult to follow at times since there were so many characters and complex dynamics.

The cover made me want to read this book. I wanted to see what the story was about because of the cover. I found a ton of characters and a heatwave in London. There were trials and relationships explored. I thought McKenna had a great idea for a novel. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book follows a large group of friends/family/acquaintances through their hectic and (somehow) mundane lives in London. The city itself is another character added to the roster; its intensity is palpable. At a certain point, the sheer amount of characters became a bit hard to follow. I felt like I needed to write down a cast of characters to keep track of who knew whom from what. I also wanted the whale metaphor to be resolved in a more satisfying way, though it certainly added to the chaos of the London setting. 3⭐️, I liked it.

An interconnected group of millennials get drunk, hook up, and reveal their secrets over the course of a heatwave in London in 2019. Not much actually happens, but people come together and split apart and while no one gets a storybook ending, everyone has learned and grown. Sensitive topics around sexuality are handled with respect and a lack of judgement.