This book had so much potential, but I finished it as quickly as possible and cannot recommend it. Each chapter channeling a different song was a bright spot, but this book did not deliver on the vibe of Taylor Swift’s ‘Tis the Damn Season song. After recently reading a lot of Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey, Ali Hazelwood, Sally Thorne, and B.K. Borrison, the writing in this book was immature and couldn’t hold up a candle to theirs. Knowing the author was only 16 makes the writing style make more sense and I can see this first book for what it is… a first book. It felt like she was trying to stretch out a novella into a novel and maybe it would’ve been stronger shorter. I wanted to love these characters, but felt they lacked depth individually and lacked chemistry together.

The back and forth chapters between present and past made it feel disjointed, the dialogue was often cringy, and the level of detail and attention put on this church play was overkill. I was making notes in my head the whole time about things that should’ve been changed, omitted, or added and it made for a painful reading