Quick Synopsis –An addictively gripping coming-of-age story about an all-consuming, insidious love affair between a college freshman and a mysterious older woman.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Where Does the Good Go by Tegan and Sara

Publication Date – May 14, 2024

Content Notes – This book has some mild sex scenes, underage drinking, questionable consent, pregnancy, and miscarriage.

Rating – 4 out of 5 ⭐

Review – This book was devastating, and I loved it. It brought me right back to being an awkward college student trying to navigate life and feelings, while also learning the hard way that there are people who can sense that vulnerability and take advantage of it.

The heart and soul of this story is Natalie, a freshman at the University of Toronto. She’s that nervous and slightly awkward teen who is trying to fit in but doesn’t really know what that means or what she even wants. She hasn’t even decided her college major. One of the classes she takes is a poetry seminar that focuses on nature poetry. While searching for inspiration in a local park, Natalie meets Nora. At first, they just keep bumping into each other, but soon they find themselves intertwined in each other’s lives even though Nora is much older.

This story is so well done, and the prose is beautiful. Even though you know the romance is doomed from the start, you can’t help but read how Natalie is discovering herself. Early on, Nora establishes a strong physical connection to Natalie and as a reader, you can see how unhealthy it is, but you can’t stop Natalie from getting pulled in. Her whole life revolves around this one person, and she doesn’t even tell her friends about the relationship. Ugh, I don’t want to spoil anything, but I honestly could talk about this forever.

There were a few reasons this wasn’t a 5-star review for me. One was kind of silly, but I wish the names Natalie and Nora were more different. I had a hard time differentiating the characters at times, which could be a me thing because I have ADHD. The other was the classes that Natalie was taking; she was meant to be a freshman, but her classes seemed very obscure to me. She never mentions like an intro class or a class all freshmen have to take. It seemed really odd and arbitrary.

This book was a wonderful and devastating queer coming-of-age. I honestly might add this to my reread list because I liked it so much.

Thanks to Algonquin Books for the ARC, all opinions are my own.