I really enjoyed this breathtaking, coming-of-age story a lot!
At first I was concerned about the pacing--I love a good slow burn, but it's possible for it to be too slow, in my opinion--but it ended up being okay given the atmosphere of the long-summer setting. I do think the pacing could have picked up a bit in spots, but it wasn't too distracting to me.
I thought it was interesting that the story was told from the POV of a Chinese-American woman looking back on her life as an eighteen-year-old. I haven't read my young adult novels that have that set up, and I really liked the way the author portrayed that here.
I thought Aria's relationship with her grandmother was lovely to read about. And speaking of relationships, I enjoyed the queer relationship that was explored in this story as well.
Overall, I would say the story was bittersweet in the way that it explored first love and loss. But I think the author did an amazing job of exploring everything that comes with that.
At first I was concerned about the pacing--I love a good slow burn, but it's possible for it to be too slow, in my opinion--but it ended up being okay given the atmosphere of the long-summer setting. I do think the pacing could have picked up a bit in spots, but it wasn't too distracting to me.
I thought it was interesting that the story was told from the POV of a Chinese-American woman looking back on her life as an eighteen-year-old. I haven't read my young adult novels that have that set up, and I really liked the way the author portrayed that here.
I thought Aria's relationship with her grandmother was lovely to read about. And speaking of relationships, I enjoyed the queer relationship that was explored in this story as well.
Overall, I would say the story was bittersweet in the way that it explored first love and loss. But I think the author did an amazing job of exploring everything that comes with that.