I started this book so ready to love it—the dreamy writing drew me in, the depression representation was authentic, and I’d loved the previous middle grade I’d read by Kacen Callendar. But unfortunately, the plot was thin, drenched in metaphor that sometimes worked but other times was redundant. None of the characters really felt fleshed out except for Moon, either. I can at least (kinda) excuse the Guardians and other spirits, because of the mystery surrounding these literally immortal beings, but even the human characters felt like props or plot elements. I would’ve liked to see more on Moon’s classmates, for example, especially since they became a central part of their recovery!! 

(Also, while I know that people trying to get Moon to talk is supposed to show the issues with therapy that they encountered, why is it that not even the one person who helped Moon could come up with a way to have them talk through writing or even a communication device?? Maybe I was just quick to think of this because I’m sometimes nonverbal, but still.)

I predicted all the plot twists re: the magician and Blue’s story, but I still thought it was a highlight. The balance of depression and dreamlike fantasy was handled a little better in those vignettes, I liked getting to actually meet the magician later on (they were an interesting character! Would’ve liked to know more about them), and I thought the ways that it would question some mechanics of the human world were very creative. In general, though, I liked the fantasy elements when they toyed with a couple real-world concepts. The Spirit World itself was super intriguing and I liked the lore that tied it into Moon’s writing.

I also really appreciated the normalization of nonbinary identities! A lot of this cast is essentially “assume they’re genderless unless explicitly stated otherwise”, regardless of gender presentation. While I’m a little unsure how much of that can be attributed to Moon’s perspective on gender as a nonbinary child, I’d also never seen so many characters in a book that used they/them pronouns lol?? (Which is extremely surprising, considering how many queer books I’ve read. More of that, please.)

This was a little above okay, I liked some parts of it, but I still thought the story could use some improvement. A lot of the plot seems to be a way to vent out Kacen’s own philosophical beliefs, and I’m a little iffy on how Moon’s depression seemed to be (mostly) resolved.