I really enjoyed this book! The basic storyline was pretty predictable and Chuck frustrated me at times just from her impulsive non thinking that got her into bad situations but overall I really loved it! I bought this book as soon as I heard about it because my first thought when I read the synopsis was “omg this is the DCOM Ally Cats Strike but with the friends to enemies to friends to lovers trope!” And that was very much what it was just with really great mental health rep added in!
*
I adored everything from the setting in San Francisco to the side characters to the tension between Chuck & Beckett to the bowling and everything in between! Beckett was so soft and lovable and brought out the best in Chuck! I think it was really fitting that San Francisco was almost a character in itself in this story. The city is so important to Chuck and the way Amelia describes it really painted a picture of how special it is to her! As someone that’s never been there, I felt like I was transported there the whole time!
*
I think the most important aspect of this book was the mental health rep! Without giving away spoilers, a big part of Chucks journey throughout the book is that she’s terrified of turning out like her mom who had bipolar disorder and lost her life to suicide when Chuck was a toddler. Mental health in general has a terrible stigma but bipolar disorder is one of the worst. Most people just see it as the mania and that’s why people with this illnesses are dismissed as “crazy” but just like everything else there’s so much more to it and it’s a spectrum that most people don’t understand. I believe Chucks journey throughout the book can help a lot of people understand what bipolar disorder is really like and help people (young people especially) become more comfortable with who they are.