Gabrielle Tozer

3.5
Trigger Warnings: Death of a friend recounted, Toxicity, Alcohol Abuse, Cancer

This is not something I'd normally read, but I was feeling adventurous, liked the cover, and thought that I should read it. I was actually surprised by this book.

The plot follows three girls, Zoe, Samira and Dahlia as they go away for a week to celebrate finishing school and to relax. These three girls had no connection to one another and their lives intersect in small ways once they get there. Zoe is struggling to be the perfect daughter, Dahlia is still grieving her friend and Samira is having relationship problems.

The writing was average, it was tolerable. The writing certainly changed depending on which character was talking in the chapter, which differentiates the girls from one another, I found the portrayal of the girls, Dahlia in particular to be really good.

I think the way the characters were different was great and I did think that their different personalities were perfect for the story. I could find something in each of their personalities to relate to, like Samira, I had not very good friends, like Zoe, I try and be perfect and like Dahlia, I have had to let go of things in life and move on from sad events and became closer to others I hadn't been close with before.

Zoe was someone I really enjoyed, while at the start, I struggled but that wasn't because of her, it was because of the writing. Her struggling with strict parents was something I could relate and I loved the process of how she stopped comparing herself to her perfect sister. I also loved how she really wanted to do something with her life, study medicine.

Dahlia was the most complex, in my opinion, her character was portrayed so well and I loved watching her cope with the loss of her friend and also how she becomes closer to Kiki. I enjoyed her and Zoe the most, Zoe because of her struggles with being perfect and Dahlia because of how she struggles to move on with her grief.

Samira was probably my least favourite narrator, I don't really know why but I just found myself more invested in Dahlia and Zoe's chapters. I did like how she moved away from the toxicity and found some much better friends. Also, her relationship with her mother was so adorable.


I loved the way that they didn't directly continue to hang out and be friends, the girls just ran into each other occasionally. It represents how on vacation, you make friends and then you don't see them again because you're going home.
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I loved how between their perspectives, this book was telling multiple voices, they were suffering so many different things and they just wanted to relax after a stressful year.

There was Zoe, the aspiring medical student, obsessed with trying to be perfect, struggling to live up to her strict parent's expectations and also comparing herself constantly to her sister.

There was Dahlia, who was struggling with the loss of her friend, trying to do things her friend wanted to do, she was struggling to find joy as she was trapped in her own head.
There was also Samira, struggling with homesickness and also with her breakup, she is trying to break away from her toxic friends.

And then between them, there was this aspect of struggling with their lives and decision making after school

Honestly, that was what I loved about this book. The narrative on coming of age and their own struggles was so relevant and cleverly done. It started out at the beginning of the book as really slow, but I'm so glad I decided to stick with this book.

This book was heartwarming due to the way the characters mature and improve, especially with how Dahlia starts getting over her friend dying.


Overall, this book improved as time went on and was an enjoyable read that you didn't need to focus on too much, I really enjoyed Zoe and Dahlia's character arcs and development.
I was so surprised that I enjoyed this since as mentioned previously, this is a book out of my comfort zone, and at the start, I was considering not finishing but I am so glad I did.… (mais)

2.5 stars rounded up.

It is difficult for me to write this review since I am not the target audience, and I haven't been for at least 40 some-odd years, plus I live on a different continent with different traditions! LOL! I like reading a variety of genres, and this book sounded very interesting.

It was a compelling book in its own way; we deal with various serious issues (death, cancer, sexuality, rotten friends and acquaintances, etc.) However, what bothered me the most about this book was that there were too many groups of friends. I kept waiting for them to merge at some point, but that never happened -and this made it a difficult read for me. First, there were too many people to keep straight, too many different relationships. Then the author throws in more people outside the individual and initial groups.

Perhaps the YA crowd will see things in this book that I missed. I still remember my high school days and understand a lot of what these groups are going through. But, unfortunately, some of this crap (like cancer and death and backstabbing) never ends even when we become "adults" and should know better.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, Harper Collins, the author and ATTL/Edelweiss.… (mais)