To Catch a Firefly is one of the most beautifully told childhood friends-to-lovers stories I've ever read (or maybe the most beautiful). As a young boy in Nebraska, Ellis was fascinated with fireflies. He wondered how to catch and keep one, but you can't keep a firefly in a jar for long before its life runs out. Lucky moves next door when he and Ellis are 10, and he's full of life, bright and shining his light on the world; he's Ellis's firefly, but Lucky has wings and needs to be free. And Ellis is made for small-town life.

So it goes for Lucky and Ellis. We can see them growing up together in the first few chapters of Emmy's book—growing closer, becoming the best of childhood friends, and maybe starting to want more. But Lucky needs to be free and explore the world, and Ellis would never try to trap him like a firefly in a jar.

This is a beautiful story of two best friends who are so very different but belong together: one the anchor at home, and one flying free out in the world. We have the privilege to see them make their way back to each other with a new type of love, the one they were always meant to have.

I can't adequately describe how stunning Emmy's writing is in this book, but suffice it to say that To Catch a Firefly is in a league of its own with its ability to evoke emotion from the reader. My eyes were leaking for most of the book, not because it was super sad, but because I could feel so much of the pining and love from the characters that I couldn't stop myself from physically responding.

Overall: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice Frequency: 2.25/5