3.5 stars

It's Natalie's last summer in her small Kentucky hometown before she heads to college and everything is changing. Along with break-ups and friend's moving away, Natalie also has to deal with 'Grandmother' - a strange figure she has seen since she was a little girl - reappearing to her with a warning. Things begin to go weird, with flickers of a different world appearing in Natalie's vision - a red door turning green, people disappearing and disappearing and then meeting a boy called Beau. When Beau and Natalie meet, he could have the answers she's been looking for.

So I have heard such mixed things about this book, I really didn't know what to expect going into it. Now I'm glad I didn't know too much about the plot because I liked how in the dark I was for most of the start of the book. It definitely heightened the intrigue for me and I think this is the kind of book that actually makes more sense if you go in blind, rather than getting others versions of what exactly is going on.

I thought the writing in this was very beautiful and descriptive and there were definitely some passages that blew me away. The writing for some reason really connected to the cover for me, is it weird to associate writing with specific colours because if I could choose a colour for Emily Hnery's writing it would 100% be the lovely pink/yellow sunset colours on the cover of this book.

I enjoyed Natalie as a character. She was funny and seemed pretty well informed about the world despite going through the typical kind of teenage confusion and angst many go through at the age of 17/18. She wasn't juvenile to me at all and seemed pretty mature and grown-up which I liked! I also loved her relationship with her family. Her parents were very much involved in her life and wanted to know where she was and if she was safe and she had a good relationship with her brother and sister as well (though I would have liked a few more heart to hearts with them to get to know them better through Natalie).

I also guessed why Jack was so upset at that. Maybe because I've been through similar experiences with my own family members that I was able to recognise the signs of someone struggling with their sexuality. I think this should have been expanded on or left out completely instead of just dipping a toe in the way it wad done in the book.

I loved Natalie's relationship with Beau. I didn't actually find it insta-lovey at all the way some people seem to think so. I think there was an attraction for sure and it was a strong one but I think the quick and deep connection between them came from them realizing they were going through the same thing so immediately hanging on to that someone who understands.

There were a few things that I didn't like - mainly that what is going on, whether it's world jumping, time loops, a wormhole of different time loops I don't know - it's not explained that well. It's kind of one of those things where the reader just needs to accept what information they are given so they don't give themselves headaches trying to figure out what's going on. I also didn't like how focused the plot was on Matt ash he wasn't a great character, not to mention aggressive and troubling. Natalie made excused for his aggressive and worrying behavior which I was not comfortable with at all. I also loved that Natalie was half Native American but she didn't really dig into her roots apart from the stories. I would have liked a journey of her finding and possibly connecting with her birth mother and getting to know the Native American side of her and understanding the culture.

With the ending, I have my own little idea of what I would have liked to happen afterwards and with this kind of book, anything is possible I guess cause ya know, different worlds, different realities, time loops etc etc. Who even knows!