Somehow, I didn't think I was going to cry. I made it through 75% of the book without shedding any tears, but then it got me three times. A tiny tearing up to start, a 'hang on let me blink at the ceiling for a minute so i don't actually shed a tear' moment, and then just 'no, i'm crying i can't pretend i'm not crying' right near the end.

This book is a lot of things, and also incredibly focused. The premise, two boys, later men, meeting every seventeen years around the cicadas is almost . . . audacious. What a weird, wild premise. What a niche thing to do. 

I loved it, partly because I currently live where these stupid cicadas do and have experienced the week they wreak havoc, and partly because I am not too much younger than these fellows, and get a lot of the references. And also because this is just a freaking top notch example of what novels and narrative structure and storytelling in general can do.

Much of this book is improbable, but it is not implausible. It hovers in that sweet spot of 'this probably wouldn't happen but oh man what if it actually DID tho?' To paraphrase one of my favorite movies (L.A. Story) - "[It] may not be the truth, but is what we wish were true."

I will admit, the third section (by far the longest) started off a little rocky for me. There is a LOT of very visceral COVID stuff. There had to be, given the time (early 2021), but Joel's situation makes it all the more serious. We go through the January 6th stuff and get a considerable amount of political talk. I can understand if you don't want that in your romance, but I also think it is 1000% worth reading through that to get to one of the most satisfying and hopeful endings I've <strike>read since (oh shit, I guess it's since yesterday when I finished The Prospects by KT Hoffman, but listen . . . )</strike> Ever Read. Folks . . . it's a banger. It does what I want more books to do . . . it goes big. It's is a Big Book about two guys who just might be soulmates who have to wait 34 years to get their chance. Aaaaannnnd, I'm tearing up again.

Books like this don't come along very often. I'm genuinely a bit upset that this book likely won't get the audience it deserves, but I will also recommend it to lots of people, so it will get at least a tiny fraction of the audience it deserves.

If any of this sounds intriguing, even if you don't like books to get political, and you don't want to dwell on this whole Panny-D we just experienced and are still reeling from . . . please try it. Skim a few bits, but make it to the end with these two. I really really think it's worth it. 

The closest book I can think to compare it to is One Giant Leap by Kay Simone. It's not a perfect comp, but it has the same sort of Big Feels and Can Do Attitude (mostly courtesy of Danny/Dan/Daniel lol) and Casual Philosophizing (this is more Joel's department), which are all very my brand. Despite the (understandable, it's hard for indie authors!) clip art cover, I'm probably going have to buy this in paperback like tomorrow. 

Copious thanks to Gay Romance Reviews for the ARC, but I'm glad I waited until it was on KU to start reading and now can keep my 55 highlights (and that was me holding back) to check on GR.