This book was a real toss-up for me. On the one hand, the writing was beautiful, the book was a love letter to urban farming, and insights into how to keep going and live a full life after suffering tragedy were present throughout. On the other hand, the book didn't initially engage me at all, and I put it down after reading two chapters, then never did pick it back up again until recently when I was finally tackling some old Netgalley requests. I think the reason I initially couldn't get into the book was that Sam and Nina's initial meeting and engagement with each other made absolutely no sense to me. Why was the local doctor, currently trying to set up an urgent care clinic, spending his time volunteering with a woman who ran community gardens/farms and a local cafe? I had no idea and this was never explained.

In addition, initially, Sam was a bit of a jerk. In the previous book he seemed to always be angry with his siblings and everyone else so I was already inclined not to like him. As the book continues, we learn that Sam has ADHD which makes it hard for him to concentrate and interact with others. The words coming out of his mouth often give an impression that is completely erroneous to what he's actually feeling because he gets frustrated and this frustration is expressed as anger. While this made him much more sympathetic, I think his biggest challenge wasn't ADHD, but rather that he is on the autism spectrum. This is completely unacknowledged in the book (indeed, I have a feeling the author isn't even aware of the fact that she wrote him this way), but it explains certain of his behavioral characteristics including his lack of social skills, his immediate target fixation on Nina, and on organic farming, and his willingness to jump into a relationship without even beginning to truly know her. As for Nina, she's something of a cipher. The book does a great job delving into her close relationships with her female friends, but although there is plenty of introspection in the book, her reasons for being so attracted to Sam and why she's so willing to put up with his oddities are never examined. So, overall, a mixed bag. I liked the book, but I didn't love it.