I liked this a lot. I think its plot is a little bit hook-ier than [b:Neighborhood Girls|29613802|Neighborhood Girls|Jessie Ann Foley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500030373l/29613802._SY75_.jpg|49956090]--youngest of 8 kids copes with grief while also being massively neglected by his big, grieving family and overlooked as an underachiever at school, and finally manages to express himself via photography. But like Neighborhood Girls and before it [b:The Carnival at Bray|22571247|The Carnival at Bray|Jessie Ann Foley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408469642l/22571247._SY75_.jpg|42037695], I think Foley just excels at explorations of grief, particularly non-romantic grief (versus the common tragic romance books). The voice here is really strong and compelling.

I also think the sudden, unexpected death of a college student via meningitis is a storyline that's probably going to resonate even more in these pandemic times.