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emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
My feelings for this book are complicated, but I ended up settling on four stars because I would ultimately recommend it!
Listen, my blood pressure was through the roof during a lot of this book because of how terribly Autumn was being treated, especially by her mum. Her mum does apologise to her eventually, but I think Autumn was owed so much more than this, in addition to an apology from Harrison (which we didn’t get), so the ending wasn’t as cathartic as I’d hoped. I also didn’t like how there seemed to be a greater push for Autumn to apologise for her behaviour than there was for her mum and Harrison to apologise for theirs, when they are the literal adults in this scenario and Autumn was acting out because of their terrible handling of the situation. I don’t think this aspect of the book was done poorly, but I do think it could have been done better.
Another criticism I had, which other reviewers share, is that the characters could have been more fleshed out. Reading this book via audio did bring some life to them, but they were kind of surface-level beyond Autumn and maybe her mum.
While I struggled with these two aspects, there was still plenty to love about this book. Firstly, I loved being able to fiercely relate to Autumn as a character. While it wasn’t my parents’ choice to move countries when I was a teen, I could still totally see myself in Autumn’s raw anger at being somewhere she didn’t belong, in her feeling completely out of place.
The evolution of Linnea and Autumn’s relationship was super sweet and one of my favourite parts. I love my sister to death, so seeing someone else get to adopt that kind of bond was so lovely, and so wholesome.
The absolute best part of the book was the queer rep. It made me so so happy to see Autumn’s journey, from identifying confusing thoughts and feelings, to finding a mentor, to the happy ending. Autumn is questioning throughout the book and remains unlabelled by choice at the end, as she still doesn’t know what word fits. I really liked this unlabelled rep as it’s important for readers to see that it’s okay if labels don’t fit now, or ever; that you can take your time with it and see how you go. It’s especially cool to see in middle-grade, and it is ultimately what bumped my rating into that four-star zone.
Rep: questioning MC, questioning LI, lesbian SC
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Ableism, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: divorce Minor: menstruation
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