I adored this book. There was something so beautiful about the story of Shiloh and Cary - an intimacy that you were allowed to experience alongside them.

I listened to the audiobook for most of the story, and it was beautifully narrated. The cadence was deliberate and emotional. I had to switch to print, and it continued to read like a melody when the focus was on the interior lives of Shiloh and Cary.

My favorite aspect of this story was how human these characters were. They were fully lived in, utterly recognizable as people rather than just figments of imagination. And I especially loved the focus on real circumstances - references to public assistance, free lunches, stretched budgets, economic disparities between parts of town - it anchored the story of Shiloh and Cary and grounded it in reality. Just beautiful, and one I'll be sitting with for a while.