Feeling out of place, overwhelmed by changes in your life you have no control over, finding your people, and facing an uncertain future are all touched on in this beautiful story. I’m going to try to write this review without spoilers, but there may be a few small ones.

The story is told in alternating point of view between Ellie and Jackson, and it works really well for this story.

Ellie has always felt separate from her family, they expect her to fit into their hearing world, without taking the time to understand her deaf world. But they did send her to a deaf boarding school where she was completely immersed in the deaf community. Coming back home and going to a somewhat unaccepting high school for her senior year is a huge challenge. Her parents make the situation more difficult, but Ellie herself is a little obnoxious about the whole thing as well. To be fair, I am 100% on her side when it comes to her parents making an effort to understand her, and that entire dynamic really made me angry, but she went into everything with a bad attitude to begin with.

Jackson comes across as a little bit of a people pleaser to me, but he is a really nice guy who has a whole lot of his own issues happening. All of these weird, seemingly unrelated medical things keep happening to him, his parents are super into health and exercise and think he just needs to push through. He’s not comfortable hanging out with the soccer team anymore because a health issue cost them the state championship. And he just wants to know what is happening to him.

Ellie and Jackson find each other and are drawn together, becoming friends, then more. Jackson makes an effort to try to learn ASL so he can communicate better with Ellie. She ventures into some situations outside her comfort zone to spend time with Jackson. Together they navigate their growing relationship, their parents, Jackson’s diagnosis, and Ellie’s desire for understanding.

I loved getting to know both characters and felt with them as they navigated all of the drama. I loved the way they both found community to help them deal with their disabilities and find their way toward happiness.

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