It's rare that a story as ambitious as this one has a satisfying ending, the author knocked it out of the freaking stratosphere my gosh I can't rave enough about it. It really crystallised the bittersweet experience of youth, that mix of uncertainty and hope you embrace as you face the world and develop your sense of identity and who you are.
I love how the story blooms out of the sudden trauma of Hikaru's death, walks us through the generations of fear and bad choices that brought them to this point, and ultimately leaves us with an undeniably hopeful message. It would have been so easy to destroy the boys and crush the readers with a sad ending but instead she gave us rebirth and new beginnings after trauma and loss, the transformative power and persistence of love, and above all, hope. This is such an important message and story to have in a world that feels increasingly bleak, I'm glad it exists and I'm grateful to have read it.
The only thing I found a little corny was the title drop lol "I'll never forget the summer Hikaru died" lmfao that kinda took me out of it. Still 10/10
It's rare that a story as ambitious as this one has a satisfying ending, the author knocked it out of the freaking stratosphere my gosh I can't rave enough about it. It really crystallised the bittersweet experience of youth, that mix of uncertainty and hope you embrace as you face the world and develop your sense of identity and who you are.
I love how the story blooms out of the sudden trauma of Hikaru's death, walks us through the generations of fear and bad choices that brought them to this point, and ultimately leaves us with an undeniably hopeful message. It would have been so easy to destroy the boys and crush the readers with a sad ending but instead she gave us rebirth and new beginnings after trauma and loss, the transformative power and persistence of love, and above all, hope. This is such an important message and story to have in a world that feels increasingly bleak, I'm glad it exists and I'm grateful to have read it.
The only thing I found a little corny was the title drop lol "I'll never forget the summer Hikaru died" lmfao that kinda took me out of it. Still 10/10