#ownvoices for gay representation
CW: 9/11 & trauma/PTSD

I've only read one other book that took place during the time of 9/11. I really enjoyed seeing the different perspectives each character had because many American's will have different stories of where they were on 9/11/2001. For me, I was in my second grade classroom and we were celebrating a classmate's birthday at snack time. I vaguely remember the day but I do remember my mom picking me up from school with my siblings who were only 3 years old at the time. When we got home I remember my mom had the TV on and was watching the news as they replayed the gruesome footage of the planes hitting the Twin Towers. Yet, I was in Philadelphia on 9/11 so it was interesting to see raw perspectives from New Yorker's at the time.

I appreciated how Levithan made this story about hope and restoring your faith in strangers and just learning not to live in fear which is something that can be related back to the present - 2019. Claire was my favorite character and I feel like she grew more than Peter and Jasper.

The main issue I had with this book was the romance between Jasper and Peter. It was super unnecessary and I felt like the end was dragged out, so I was skimming the last 30 pages because I just didn't care about Jasper and Peter. But, I did like the inclusion of Jasper, a POC character who is Korean and gay.

I really wanted to see more of a dark story line while we got to see three different stories most didn't really go into anything heavy like losing a loved one. I really would've liked to have seen that story line.

Overall, I enjoyed this story for it's purpose and it's message along with the writing. There were so many memorable quotes that I got out of this reading experience and it definitely gave me a different view on life.