This book is quintessential Ashley Poston! Magical Realism woven into a woman’s story dealing with grief and then also having a little romance. I think, definitely as is with her other works, this is a women’s fiction story first with a side plot of romance but the romance was so delicious and Sasha was just the perfect man for Joni. The writing was (as always) perfection, but I really think Ashley Poston has just grown as a writer especially since The Dead Romantics back in 2022. The word choices and sentence structures really worked together to punch you in the gut with how beautifully morose this book is, but alternatively this book has such perfect summer vibe; set in a coastal town with constant beach trips, ice cream dates and bar trips on a boat — “I was a child of beaches and sticky ice cream summers and messy windswept hair.”

I love the talk of grief and how it’s just a “love song in reverse”; the way you could feel the melancholy drip off the words in relation to Joni’s mother and her dementia was just heartbreaking. Also so appreciated the conversations around following your dreams and the kind of person you would be if you didn’t walk certain paths stemming from Joni just feeling so homesick and also heavily burnt out (which is so relatable). Lastly, the music was also so so fun as someone who’s least favourite thing is actually music and songs in books — Ashley Poston did it so well here that it didn’t bother me at all and in fact made me fall in love with it. Can’t wait to see what she does next!