But when she tossed the coin to decide who would be the one to examine her kitty, Tate or this stranger, I was quite sure it did. grow tf up, your sister has suffered enough herself, her scars may not be physical but they are probably just as skin deep. I didn’t care for the small redemptions some of them had—Leah realizing not everything is about her and finally being the older sister she had to be, Terry saying he’s not a fraud (he is), Charlie…is Charlie, Tate…is Tate, Kellan is…dead.

this book was instead a journey in how the death of a person can ultimately shape the lives of others, people who haven't even had the chance to meet him.

I was ready for a sliver of true sadness to enter my body only to be exorcised by a piece of juicy sandwich a few mins later ( there's not much of emotional trauma that a sandwich can't take care of). yeah they might not have said the words and all they did was kiss but i know in a parallel universe (or in the novel that kellan wrote as darling venom) they both get the happy ending they deserve in each other. I will admit I’ve never had mental health issues or depression myself so it’s difficult for me to understand, but I have a younger sister that struggled with similar things to Kellan when we were younger, so it was much easier for me to relate to Tate than to Kellan.

and simply couldn't turn off his protective instinct and the desire to take care of her even when he did his best to convince himself that he gave zero fucks about Charlie. once charlie found the letter that kellan left for her, she dug her way into his home and heart as she worked on the book alongside tate's dad, who was couch surfing in his house as he was a broke, drunk. When a chance encounter with a classmate changes her perspective on what was supposed to be the worst day of her life, Charlie makes a pact with her new friend. Deny it all you want, but you don't stalk and chase (in both sober and drunken states) after a girl as much as Tate did it just to talk about your dead brother. Which, finally brings us to the main reason this book was only a mediocre read for me: *drumroll* the romance and the smut.

i really wish charlotte and kellan got their happy ending tho, they made so much more sense and had a lot more in common compared to charlotte and tate - they felt more trauma bonded and were both leaning on each other bc of the memories they had of kellan. You can't tell me everyone in the publishing world is thirsting after a book that references Miley Cyrus🤣🤣🤣. This book is such an emotional read😭 It deals with so much: grief, guilt, mental health, addiction, forgiveness (of yourself and others), dysfunctional families, and so much more.

The whole situation needed a logical closure, not some emo boy meeting her on a roof once a year to make it all better. But none of that was enough, he valued neither the people who truly cared about him nor the opportunities he had.things take a turn for the worst on charlottes 18th birthday (their 4th annual meet-up) when kellan takes his life, leaving charlotte with a penny and a world full of hurt. First of all, I couldn't feel any chemistry between Tate and Charlie and felt like their shared trauma was the only thing that kept them together. If I would have loved the actual romance more, it would have easily been a full five stars, but this still was a great read overall and a strong 4-4. Take the notorious ob-gyn scene: Charlotte embarrassed herself quite like no one else, but behind Tate's 'professional' (my ass), cold and indifferent façade you could clearly see that the guy's self-control was hanging by a thread.