What a shame! This was a big disappointment after starting so well. The teenagers in this book were so beautifully imagined with all the flaws and empty spaces typical of kids from the adoption and foster systems. I would have loved to have gifted this book to close family members (young and old) who would have seen themselves for once in literature. However, the ending is of great concern and would (and indeed similar endings have been in the past) been a big trigger for at least two of these family members. In simple terms, it takes a long time to discover you already have your happy ending in real life and most of us don’t discover it until we are middle-aged. Kids should not be given unrealistic expectations that all their pain will be healed somehow just by finding their biological relatives.

Although this book is heartwarming and strongly recommended to those outside of the system please be careful when recommending it to those within.