I’m not sure how to review this book. There were some things that I really liked about it, and some things that were not as successful for me.

First off, this books needs some content warnings for death, because there is a lot of it: Death of a parent, death of a loved one, suicide, death of an animal (not a pet), and several near death experiences. Death is a central plot point, which is one of the things that didn’t work for me so much. It seemed like Annie was pretty much obsessed with death.

Annie and Pete’s dads (and Annie’s Gigi) gave them a lot of freedom for the amount of risk taking that they do, and have done their whole lives. The bulk of the story takes place the summer before their senior year in high school, but there are a lot of time jumps to the past that can be a little disorienting at times.

The story is told first person from Annie’s POV. So we don’t see what’s going on in Pete’s mind and just have to take her word for it, but it does seem legit.

Here is what I liked:

• Annie and Pete’s friendship, which has lasted since they met in elementary school. They are the best of friends and their dads refer to them as soulmates. Even though Annie has a crush on Pete, she’s never acted on it and it hasn’t affected their friendship. Neither has the appearance of Pete’s girlfriend.
• Preet’s (Pete’s girlfriend) complete acceptance of Annie in his life. And her willingness to do things with them, and to let them do the things she doesn’t enjoy without her. No jealousy on her part is evident (there is a bit on Annie’s).
• Pete’s total assurance in his own masculinity and love of unicorns and rainbows. Seriously, everything this boy owns is covered in unicorns, including his underwear. (His love of unicorns is mentioned A LOT).

I still don’t know how I feel about the ending. While it does feel authentic for the story, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of character growth

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.