So this is too rushed to feel like a novel and waaayyyyy too long to be a short story, so it's a weird limbo I'm not sure I liked.

Also, beware! This is a book that stops halfway through without warning and jumps ahead a few years. I hate those types of 'second chance' books, although this was better than some others I've read.

There's a lot of extraneous family shit that doesn't move the plot along and just serves to make us cry, so be warned about that.

I just don't know about this. It's sold as a christmas second chance book but really it's neither. It's about young 18 year olds trying to survive and then coming together again. It's ok, and I don't regret reading it but I also can't recommend it. ( )

I loved the guys, I loved the single point of view, I admired the variety of supporting characters and the comings out and the variety of conflicts, and all of it, and above all, I loved the time this story encompasses, giving room for the resolution to really mean something. And a good epilogue. I love a good epilogue. ( )

Sometimes I hate my brain. I really liked the first half of the book. It was sweet and a bit sad. And I figured I know where the story is going, and I didn't want it to go in that direction. And when it really didn't... I was disappointed. o.o Piece THAT together.
So the other half wasn't as strong for me. I don't want to say why coz that's a spoiler. But my best advice is try and turn your brain off. Let the story take you and not the other way around. Somehow I always make that mistake, let my mind get ahead of the story.

It turned out the boys were 18 when they met, which I should've been aware of, but they sounded a bit more mature. I put them around 22-23.

There were also a couple details that are not really that significant but... uhm those few times I felt like the author was gearing up for something to be revealed later, except there was no reveal in the end. And I was confused... maybe I should have read between the lines? I dunno.

But I still liked it. 3.5 stars ( )