Disclaimer: I’ve received an ARC copy by the author. 

Aiden has left his past behind. Not only has he switched places with his twin sister after running from a murder committed in self-defense, but Masika, his only friend, the first woman he fell in love with, disappeared, leaving him behind. He has been trying to rebuild his life, lay low and deal with the downsides of such an isolated life, when Masika knocks on his door again, asking if she can stay with him. 

Masika has a dark past to say the least. Raised by a deeply abusive grandfather, she was imprisoned at 14 after stopping an attempted rape and murder of her next-door neighbor. The only friend she made in prison, trans woman on death row, is killed shortly after her release. Followed by a short period of happiness where she lives with her father and meets Aiden, she runs away, looking for a way to transition, but ends up in even worse company. 

While the thriller parts of this book were not always entirely realistic, they were interesting and tense and kept my attention well throughout the book. The way the flashbacks to Masika’s and Aiden’s life before their reunion where interspersed with their current attempts of building a better future for themselves, left me deeply worried and on edge for their happiness in the best way. I enjoyed the romance aspects and the personal development aspects even more than the thriller aspect and really had a great time reading those parts, even if it wasn’t always easy. I also really enjoyed the way mental illness, disability, identity and trauma were explored in this book. The writing (and especially the narrative voices of Masika and Aiden) were deeply interesting and well written. 

All in all, this was a thrilling read with great main characters, explorations of trauma, messy main characters with troubled pasts, disability representations that I adored (what I’m assuming to be heds (cane user & chronic pain haver) + schizoaffective disorder & autism!) and a t4t (where the t stands for both trans & trauma), autistic4autistic romance that made my heart sing with joy. 

TW: can be found on the author’s website here: https://authormicahflowers.com/content-warnings/