"i don't know, it's like i look at you and suddenly the sonnets make sense."

oh my god when i tell you this book literally changed my life i mean it. HOLY GOD WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME THIS BOOK MADE ME FEEL THINGS I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I COULD FEEL AND AFTER FINISHING IT I JUST FEEL SO EMPTY BECAUSE IT WAS SO REMARKABLE AND IT'S ALL I'M GOING TO THINK ABOUT FOR THE NEXT MONTH😭

holy god i don't even know where to start with this review and it will most likely be a jumbled mess which is an accurate representation of the thoughts in my brain right now. first of all, M.L RIO'S WRITING. I HAVE NEVER READ LINES MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE ONE IN THIS BOOK like holy god did you see the sonnets quote at the beginning????? and that's just the tip of the iceberg; i annotated the shit out of this book, i could barely go a couple of pages without underlining or highlighting something new because the writing was just so spectacular, it made me feel so much i don't know how an author can be capable of that but WOW. this is the first book that has made me feel something similar to the way i felt with taylor jenkins reids' writing (daisy jones and the six in particular), and when a book can make you feel like that, it's so special. also, just the VIBE and the atmosphere of book's setting was so fun to read, like all of the dark academia vibes and the drama and shakespeare and acting classes like it was just so cool. to write a book like this, you have to know a LOT about shakespeare, and actually understand it on a very deep, deep level, and it's so clear that the author actually does because it shows so much in how she connects the shakespeare lines to the character's lives and what they're feeling in the moment. it's so cleverly crafted like this woman is literally a genius.

secondly, this book is so multifaceted like the themes and topics were dealt with in such a graceful yet impactful way, and it never felt like too much or too little, it was PERFECT. it wasn't just about richard's death, it was about SO much more than that when you read the events leading up to and after it. it's about art and the relationship with yourself and your art, it's about friendship, academia, accountability, trauma, love, romance, fire, passion, anger, EVERYTHING just pure raw emotion and i loved that so much. specifically, i love how rio managed to write the story in a way that the romance isn't the main focus of it, but it is simultaneously a very large and very crucial part of the story in the background, because it affects everything else, if that makes sense?? god james and oliver were so in love it hurts. 

the characters took me through such a rollercoaster of emotions, i honestly loved them all (minus richard) so much (especially james, i feel so sad i just want to give him a hug). the way the story progressed was so gripping, i always felt like i was on the edge of my seat, wanting to know more and more and when it all finally unraveled it was SO SATISFYING. the buildup and suspense to the ending had me tearing up it was so intense but in a really, really, good way. genuinely the ending had me sitting in silence for 10 minutes and contemplating my entire existence. anyways this book is my new obsession i am so in love with it and i just want to tell as many people on planet earth as possible to read it <3333