I really wanted to love this book. And for the most part, I did like it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.

Things I liked:
1. Diversity:
There were several characters representing marginalized groups in this book, Phoenix being the most prominent. Now, even though this book is not an 'own voices' novel, it is stated in the author's bio that she has worked with many people from Central American countries, so I am just working off the assumption that she wrote and respectful and accurate portrayal of the possible struggle a young man from that part of the world may face. It felt like she'd done her research, which I appreciated.
2. Sally and Amanda:
I wish they'd been a little more fleshed-out, but I loved these two and the fact that they are trying to help Phoenix, despite not really knowing much about him. They way they take him into their lives is awesome.
3. The depiction of trauma and PTSD:
A couple of characters in this story have experienced traumatic events, and each of them deals with it in their own way. I liked that this book really explored that what helps one person may not help another and that these kind of emotional and psychological wounds heal at a different rate for everyone.
4. Gretchen and Phoenix's friendship:
I liked their relationship, but I think I almost prefer them as friends rather than romantic partners.

Things I didn't like:
1. The romance:
My biggest issue with this romance is that it felt a little out of nowhere. As much as I appreciated the author exploring trauma and PTSD, I felt like Gretchen suddenly overcoming her issues having to do with personal space were slightly unrealistic. Again, I know that people heal from trauma in their own ways, she had major difficulty even having physical contact with her long-time boyfriend but she is almost immediately wrapping herself around Phoenix...it felt a little insta-lovey to me...
2. Annoying trope-filled angst:
I'm not sure what else to call this, but it is one of the most annoying things in books for me. It happens when a story is being told in first person. The narrator has some big secret of something that either happened to them or something they did themselves. And even though it's in first freaking person and we are literally in that person's head, there is this huge mystery surrounding what the secret could possibly be. And it's stretched out far longer than necessary. And when this big secret is finally divulged to the reader, it's oftentimes very underwhelming.

Gretchen's 'secret' fit the bill almost perfectly.
It feels like an attempt to create a false tension to keep the reader reading, but it makes no sense to me when we're talking about reading directly from someone's perspective. It doesn't work.

This book takes the trope even one step further by having the character refer to the fact that she wont talk about it, even to herself:

"I lie to my mom, staring out the window. I lie to my dad, gripping my knee. I lie to the nice prosecutor, Karen, and to myself. I lie because there's more. This isn't even the most disturbing part, The part I've forbidden myself to think about or acknowledge. The part I can't even tell myself."
-Page 57

The author is trying to make a mystery out of something her character knows about first-hand. SHE IS ACKNOWLEDGING THE 'LIE' JUST BY SAYING SHE WONT ACKNOWLEDGE IT. Maddening.

3. Telling, not showing:
The fact that we are getting both of our main character's perspectives should mean that we are getting a pretty good accounting of the action in the story, right? Apparently not. The last couple of chapters in the book are all sorts of info-dumpy and learning a lot of action after-the-fact. First, Gretchen's best friend's boyfriend, who she's been low-key hating on since the start of the book, turns out to know all sorts of stuff about Phoenix that Gretchen was unaware of up to that point. Now, if this knowledge had come to him pre-book that would be understandable. But it didn't. In fact, it apparently happened in between chapters directly after an event that was depicted in the story. If this story was just from Gretchen's perspective I would understand why we wouldn't be privy to the conversation, but it's a dual-perspective story. I felt like the whole thing was done simply to prop up this secondary character so the he would be redeemed in Gretchen's eyes.
Another instance of this is in the last chapter. Gretchen and Phoenix both relay information to each other AND the readers after-the-fact. So much action happens that we are simply told about. It makes the ending feel very rushed.
4. The pacing:
As previously stated, the ending felt incredibly rushed. I think one reason for that is that the rest of the book is kind of slow. It actually took me quite a bit to get into this story. Once I did I thought it was nice, but it was definitely slow.
5. Gretchen's mom:
Neither of her parents were very well-developed, but at least her dad seemed like a caring guy. Her mom seemed like kind of a bitch for the most part. She complained a lot about everything, and seemed somewhat selfish, especially considering her daughter's struggles.

All in all, I did appreciate this book, and thought that it had a ton of potential, but there were just a few things that I felt could have been done better.