[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Weston is the outcast in the town of Enfield. In a small town, everyone knows your business. So everyone knows about his parents’ divorce, about the year he spent at the rival high school. And the things they don’t know, they make up with rumor and assumption. Everyone but his closest friends thinks he’s weird at best if not actually dangerous.
Anna is an unexpected bright spot in Weston’s life. While they are supposed to be practicing their big duet for marching band, they are finding in each other someone who, surprisingly, GETS them – his struggles after the divorce, her anxiety, his music, her writing.
But since everyone assumes the worst about Weston, Anna feels she has to hide and lie to be with him. But in a small town, no one keeps a secret for long.
Review
I have to be honest. The synopsis for this book did not grab me when I read it. But the author wrote my favorite book of 2021. So reading this one was a given. While I read, my feelings were mixed.
I loved Anna and Weston, both as individuals and together. And the author’s writing is top notch. But I just did not get this story. For so long, nothing was happening. Sure, they grew closer, they faced some roadblocks. But things just kept rolling along. I couldn’t figure out the point of it all.
I’ve described my ideal book a lot here. A big piece of my enjoyment is the puzzle or the quest – something to solve, something to overcome, something to rail against. This just isn’t that sort of book.
I have no idea how to rate this – I was engrossed in the characters and enjoyed the writing. On that alone, I would probably give this 4 stars. But I just couldn’t connect to the plot. And the ending did not help my enjoyment of the story. The whole reading experience was unsatisfying in the end.
Readers who love character-rich stories and don’t care about driving plots are likely a much better audience for this than I was. There’s a lot here to enjoy if you are excited about watching a relationship unfold over time with some fantastic descriptions – especially if you have a soft spot for band stories. (Language, sex, TW: Grief)
Rating: ♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥ = Good, solid, fine