The early days of the pandemic are the backdrop for this Brooklyn fire escape romance. Claire is navigating quarantine from her girlfriend of six months, Vanessa, when in her loneliness and confusion, is drawn to her mysterious across-the-street neighbor, whom she first sees sitting radiant-haired on a fire escape. 

I wonder if it's still a little soon for pandemic novels like this one, where the memory is so recent that I judge the characters for living it differently than I did. Total home grocery deliveries? No thoughts of helping others? Homemade masks seeming novel? And tbh, I'm still not over being frustrated with people who made the pandemic all about themselves, thinking it was only happening to them. Not that that's totally the scenario is this novel. Clearly Claire's fear is much of what drives her decisions. The unexpected change in objects of affection isn't that unexpected, and the fire escape girl has that perfect YA boyfriend vibe. 

I wonder if the author is queer or not. It certainly works better with all girls than it might have if the SO and new love interest were boys because power dynamics would have played more of a role. The girls' sexuality was easily accepted by everyone involved, and there weren't any in-culture jokes or concerns, and no thoughts about women's colleges as they discussed where they wanted to go. Brooklyn didn't seem super authentic either, with no references to the neighborhood. I can't imagine being able to talk to my across-the-street neighbor fire escape to fire escape where I lived in BK in March 2020. 

As I write this, I'm becoming more annoyed with the novel, and marked it down half a point. Proceed at your own risk!