Before I get into my thoughts, I think it’s important for me to add a disclaimer that I am a straight, cis-gender woman who grew up in America. This is important because I found the first third of the book to fall completely flat in its characterizations of queer people.

Both Mae the lesbian and Ari the fluid pansexual felt like stereotypes. They were extremely predictable and in no way unique. It wasn’t until major tragedies strike that either character grew in depth, complexity, and uniqueness. Once they were fully realized, they were beautiful characters that I felt an emotional attachment to, however I still recalled the reductive portrayals in the first third and they continued to leave a sour taste.

My other (somewhat nit picky) complaint is that there clearly is a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Americans in this novel. Ari is American, however as an American with a British parent, I felt that Ari was validated in his great code-switching. However, when we get into his adult life in NYC, there is inexplicable mentions of WhatsApp groups and extremely British dialogue coming out of american characters mouths. Maybe not important, but it was extremely jarring and will be noticed by any American readers.

Overall I really enjoyed the plot of this novel, queer love in every facet of life. Family, friends, romance. I really wish that the characters were more than just stereotypes when the book began.