How can I begin describing this book?

This is my first time reading anything about Jared Morrison and I honestly didn't know what to expect but the premise was very eye catching. We find ourselves in the mind of Ben, a man who at some point of his life wanted to become an actor (as one would think the majority of people in LA do) and is telling us this story and Taylor's. Taylor is Ben's best friend and a childstar turned screenwriter who is finding difficult to find his footing after the loss of his parents and his up and coming career. We get to see in a series of flashbacks how their story together (and apart) unfolds and connects from middle school children to men in their 30's. But that's only half of it. The story is 50% told through a script. A script Taylor wrote before he died. That script is The Crossing.

I have read countless of books in my lifetime and being used to all kinds of narratives, I inevitably become obsessed with original writing. Few authors have made me feel that and I can count them with one hand: Taylor Jenkins Reed with Daisy Jones and The Six, Elisa Sussman with Funny You Should Ask and Ashley Poston with The Seven Year Slip and now Jared and The Crossing. Mind you, these books have nothing in common when it comes to plot (a bit of romance, a bit of mystery) but they're so intricately written, so captivating, that it made me pause in several parts just to take in what I had just read.

This is one of the most interesting reads I've had in the year (a Top 5 for sure) because there is never enough Magical Realism in the contemporary literature. And if I am being honest, we all need a bit of Magical Realism here and there. What Jared does with The Crossing, the way he unfolds the story, how you think some things are obvious but then they're not what they seem is a wonderful thing. The friendship, the loss, the mourning and the love are there and it makes you root for these characters even in their own imperfections. I am recommending this book wholeheartedly,