I think the absolute biggest issue I had here is the 2nd person narration. It rubbed my brain the wrong way - instead of reading a story about a person, my brain interjected, even for a split second, at every "you", saying "I'm not that". The worst is at the moments where it's close enough to a situation you might face that you feel annoyed at the suggestion. No, "I" would not take an Uber in London along a route that has a perfect good train. Be serious!

Is that stupid? Yeah. But I think it stopped me from appreciating the story as a story. It was a really surprising amount of friction that made me read the main character in a less charitable way. Which I feel really bad about. I think again this is unfair of me but... Yeah.

I guess I felt too like the main story of the romance just didn't work very well - or at least felt not very romantic. The ending really solidified this for me and I found it very frustrating you leave her in silence for A YEAR and then just expect her to be ready to talk whenever you turn up, ready to run back to your arms? And it works??? It just feels... Ugh. I don't think they were even together a year. I was just never sold that he cares about her, that he knows about her, that he wants to make a life with her. There's no consideration even to the end of how she feels about things. The narrative only barely considers it.

And it's complicated cause so much of the book is about the experience of being a Black man living in London today! And I feel unequipped to judge it cause of that. So take my rating and my feelings as me being ignorant and responding only on a mundane, shallow, "enjoyment" level ( )

It is like a poem for the complexity of love, attraction and person hood. It destroyed me in the best possible way. ( )

Some great writing. It also opened up my eyes, like The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas, of living a life of not having to "look over your shoulder". I have a very WASP upbringing/lifestyle and so many of the issues brought up in this book I don't have to face. ( )

Beautiful prose and a deep story that involves grief, trauma, being Black in a predominantly white country, intimacy and love in its deepest state. What a beautiful start to 2023! ( )

A wonderful, painful love story. Brutally honest, and made me reflect so much while reading.
Beautiful! ( )