As a fan of queer love stories and Safi’s first novel, I was so excited to dive into this book, and it completely delivered. As in her debut, I love how Safi writes fierce, ambitious girls. Sana Kahn and Rachel Recht have been icy since Sana’s unsuccessful attempt to ask Rachel out, when Rachel’s insecurity didn’t allow her to see Sana’s overture as anything other than a setup for a cruel joke. Their careful avoidance finally crashes to an end senior year, as each deals with a looming deadline that will set the course for their post-high school futures, opening up the opportunity for each to realize the other is much more than they’d believed. Sana and Rachel shine with all the complicated contradictions of teenage girlhood, bubbling beneath the surface with yearning, and rage at all the ways big and small they feel brushed off or boxed in.

Another thing to love about this book, both characters are openly lesbians from the beginning, and not a single plot point or drop of angst is dedicated to their sexualities not being accepted by themselves or anyone around them. It’s definitely refreshing given the preponderance of queer stories surrounding coming out or facing societal rejection.