Might give this 3.5 stars? I liked the moments of body horror and what they represented in Zharie’s grief. (A bulk of the latter half was the more interesting part of the book imo when it focused on that, and Bo was temporarily out of the picture.) I felt like the further into the book I got, the more the main characters started to make sense and I could believe their different dynamics. But the “horror” was a lot different than I expected it to be…it was more creepy magical realism-adjacent than anything, and while I get the purpose of Zharie’s arc and showing her opening up to other kinds of connections, I didn’t like her love interest, Bo, lol. The John Green inspiration shined through most in his dialogue. 

The imagery of this book, contained in vivid metaphors placed throughout different charged moments, was nice to read but I have mixed thoughts on. Sometimes, it felt appropriately symbolic, but at other points, it felt a little scattered. I can’t help but wonder if this would feel better in a visual format where the artistic choices can be *shown*, like a graphic novel or an animation.

I’d say that overall, I liked Zharie’s story for showing a realistic grieving household and how she dealt with that as a teen. Her growth was admirable. But it wasn’t the kind of story I was expecting based off of the description, lol. I’m disappointed that the almost mysterious, definitely creepier elements I saw on the author’s Instagram weren’t really present. (I was expecting them to pop up more in the dance school part of the story, especially.)