Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
I was really drawn to this book due to its cover initially – who doesn’t love bright orange and fire? – but then reading the tag line on NetGalley made me really excited to read it. A book about the hard aspects of life as a teenage male including death of a parent and first love is not something I have seen a lot in YA books, at least not recently from my memory, and I was really curious to see what the psychological aspects of this book were. Kat Spears did not disappoint! Dane was incredibly frustrating and stubborn, just like a 17 year old suffering from depression & hopelessness would be, and I could relate a lot to his feelings from when I was 17. I did find some of his mannerisms a bit grating at times but I also have never experienced what he went through and grief is so unique to each person. His interactions with his friends and surrounding environment/people were also relatable & interesting, so the book was engaging the entire time I read it. I appreciated all of the clinical conversations with his counselor and the trying to mend relationships, but most of all I appreciated how the book ended. Spoiler: if you are looking for a happily ever after or a nice bow to wrap up this book, you will not get that here, at least not in the version I read. Overall, I really appreciated this book, and I give it a solid 4/5