This book had all the perfect ingredients for an amazing book formula, for me: dual-perspective, alternating-chapters of a strong female friendship, especially in the teen years. Disability rep!! A plot with some wiggle room as far as reality goes, which this book pulled off effortlessly. -Not once- did I roll my eyes. I was completely engrossed. This book had me laughing, made me cry, warmed my heart, and I cheered on Agnes so often. This book was so much of what I was looking for. I finished the book shortly after midnight, was up until three am thinking about it, and didn't really sleep until a bit after that.
I knocked off a star because the author chose to flip back and forth between present and past in a way that lowered the emotional stakes for me, deeply annoyed me at times, and was low-key distracting at others. Because this was a pattern, I was actually able to accurately predict the ending, but I didn't roll my eyes, I just mini-sighed. I felt like the characters needed that ending, though. It fit. The book is rich with symbolism, though, and I noticed early on -who- had the most chapters set in the past, and I really appreciated the symbolism/device. Character names could be cheesy, but later I realized, they fit, and how they did. One of the characters was named Colt, and I giggled eagerly as I imagined him to be a character, grown up, from a movie I watched a ton as a kid, and still watch as an adult.
I'm so glad I read this, so grateful for disability rep and #ownvoices, and I'm eager to learn about other things the author is working on. ( )

En mi gatuna opinión, es el mejor libro de Kody hasta ahora ( )

Thanks for the recommendation Natalie! The book sounds right up my alley

diverse teen fiction (legally blind teen with overprotective parents makes friends with poor, bisexual teen with absent dad and meth-addict mom in small town Kentucky)
Great characters that feel real and perspectives not often seen in teen lit. ( )

This book was a nice solid read about girl friendship that really made my heart pretty warm.

Spoilers about why I read it (queer read) though, which is important for folks who are more invested than I was, and some commentary surrounding that:
SPOILER
Bo and Agnes DO NOT date even though it reads as like really homoerotic and with a lot of sexual tension; there's even a line where Agnes sort of thinks about Bo being bi and is like 'it wasn't something I had considered' and I was like OH MY GOD but no, alas, no dating, and while Agnes gets a sex scene with a male character, Bo's 'dating' is left to a single chapter at the end. She IS named as bisexual, though, and she does end up with a girlfriend so? idk, just something to think about. We can't do all things in all stories and I get that but MAN are we missing a 'sweet girl and a girl from the wrong side of the tracks fall in love' lesbian story.
/SPOILER

I will also say that the ending felt pretty rushed, especially the final few chapters--like we bumped up against a space limitation and had to wrap up the story quickly. But it was a cute and fluffy story about girls growing up and learning how to be themselves and that was nice, so if you're looking for a quick feel-good read, this is a pretty good start! ( )