Whenever You're Ready follows Nia, Jade, and Jonah, Jade's twin brother, while they embark on a road trip to the US South to explore different Jewish sites to connect with their heritage. The road trip was made all the more significant as it was designed by their late best friend, Michal, who died of brain cancer and insisted they complete the road trip before they all turned 30. 

This was a really fun read. I appreciated how the author opened up with text messages, like a modern epistolary novel - it gave us an immediate insight into where the relationship between Nia and Jade sat and how they interacted with each other. The different timelines also allowed us to see how the relationship between Nia, Jade, and Michal began and unfolded throughout their lives. All the characters felt fully realized and like whole people, which made the slow unfurling of the love between Nia and Jade throughout the book all the better. It was messy, but in a way that felt very real and true to who these people are. 

The call backs to Michal and her letters were lovely - throughout the book, we get to read letters that Michal had pre-written to Nia and Jade for their birthdays that she wrote out before she passed. 

I also learned so much about the history of southern Jews and while I know this is a complex history, it was really interesting to learn this with the backdrop of two characters admitting their love for one another. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy of the book.