Aza, throughout the book, is asked: Are you better? Are you better? Are you better? And that’s the thing- everyone wants a battle won, but John Green understands that there is no winning, no finishing, only going on, which is what the book tells its readers so beautifully. Aza’s OCD and the way it comes and goes and the ways it invades her life are emotional and poignant and her journey in this book is, too.

(Spoiler in the next paragraph)

I appreciate that this book emphasizes how important teen romance is and how real and big those feelings are, while acknowledging that time moves forward. That this time can be real and impactful for the rest of your life, even if your life changes. I haven’t seen a lot of YA acknowledge that- that sometimes (often) teen romance is temporary, but the ending doesn’t make it lost. There is something really realistic and beautiful about this, the ability to look back and feel the significance of something while being able to move on. I think media often portrays romance as a game of all or nothing and it is absolutely refreshing to see it portrayed this way instead.

Some other things I liked:

-It hits on relevant political issues organically.
-It approaches class and wealth disparity in real and tangible ways.
-It has a lot of science in it- I loved the juxtaposition of Aza’s focus on the microscopic and Davis’s on the expansive.
-It takes time to think about college and important decisions that are on teen’s minds.
-The metaphors are really layered and thoughtful.
-The bits about Daisy’s fanfiction were really fun and funny.
-John Green knows a lot about Indianapolis