*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Libby Weeks is losing her mind. Along with her house keys, the password to her computer and email, and, during one particularly bad episode, her beloved dog. Recently diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, she's consumed by two things: finishing the book series and then killing herself... if only she could remember to do either of those things consistently. 

Also known as F. T. Goldhero, the secret writer to the infamous "The Falling Children" book series, beloved by children for the story and by adults for the mystery behind the authorship; Libby still has to deliver on the last book but she can't seem to figure out how to get the children out of the forest. So, in a desperate bid to try to save her life-long companions, Libby reaches out to avid fan Peanut Bixton for help. 

In Blue Sky, CO, Peanut is an eleven-year old super-fan of "The Falling Children" and is willing to whatever it takes to help finish the series. If that means lying to her older sister? No problem. Breaking into the creepy house down the road? Sure thing. Bribing her older brother into taking care of Libby while she tried to figure out how to end the story? Done. However, as Peanut gets more and more caught up in the secret of F. T. Goldhero her own life starts to fall apart.

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This book has so much potential. In an unusual move, I loved Libby as an unreliable narrator-- there was so much care and thought put into the depiction of a degrading mind, and Libby's narration was an example of fantastic, and thoughtful, writing. And while Peanut wasn't my favorite voice, she was a faithful recreation of how we all think and feel at eleven years old: everything feels too big, too raw, and too important for anyone else to understand what's going on.

My biggest issue was the ending; Booth has done a brilliant job of weaving Libby, Peanut, and the story of the Falling Children into a confusing tapestry-- the edges of reality and pretend blurred and bled into one another, and I was never 100% certain what was real or what Libby's mind had created (but in an interesting way).

I was desperate, especially after the conversation between Libby and Peanut in the hospital, for Peanut to be Libby. For Libby's mind to have created this beautiful story of a blended and complex family, a new love, and a place she belongs, to help her create and cope with the end of her book series and, indeed, her life. But, no. Alas. Peanut is given credit for Libby's writing, which is convenient since Peanut's own life so closely mirrors the Falling Children's (which is just such a big coincidence I can't help but retroactively roll my eyes). Booth had an opportunity to do something mind-melding, but instead took the easy ending out.

I wanted to love this book, while I read it I enjoyed this book, and by the end I was just disappointed.