I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

Jubilee Jenkins can't touch another human being or she will die. Living with her rare allergy, a bad moment in high school caused Jubilee to stay in her house and never leave for nine years until she's forced out the door by the death of her mother and lack of money. Getting a job in a library, Jubilee meets Eric - a divorcee trying to understand his adopted son. Jubilee's growing friendship with Eric might prove that you don't need the power of touch to feel a connection and fall in love.

I really, really loved this book. From the get go, it was just very easy to read and the kind of story you could fall head over heels in love with and become absorbed in the pages. I didn't want to put it down. I loved the characters in this and how different everyone was while at the same time desperately needing each other. While I don't believe this book is Own Voices, it's definitely diverse with Jubilee dealing with severe allergies that effect her way of life as well as a touch of agoraphobia. Aja is also on the autistic spectrum and is a mixed-race child with a white adoptive father. Jubilee's allergy isn't real but Colleen Oakley put an interesting note in the back of the book about how she wanted Jubilee's allergies to be relatable to severe allergies people live with every day like peanut butter and eggs, as well as connecting with readers who also have suffered agoraphobia. I haven't suffered anything like this so I can't say how correct or relatable Jubilee's story was but I definitely enjoying reading her journey.

I loved Eric, he was just pretty adorable and I adored how he tried to connect with his daughter Ellie by reading all her favourite books and trying to figure out why she connected with The Virgin Suicides and The Bell Jar. This is a great story for book lovers too as Jubilee and Eric often discuss books together.

There were defintiely times I felt frustrated in this book by the behaviour of Aja and Ellie but I think it all eventually played out quite naturally. There was no overnight fix for everything, it all took time. The same with Jubilee's relationship with Eric. They had a friendship first that deepened into something very raw and real. It took time which I think was appropriate for Jubilee's situation and was realistic.

I was going to give this 5 stars but had to change it to a 4.5 stars as I couldn't help but feel disappointed by the ending. It was was't what I had been hoping for. It was still sweet and lovely but was just missing some kind of spark for me.

I do like the fact that Jubilee's life didn't just stop after Eric left and that she made some really great, strong connections. I just was disappointed that she might have ended up hurting Michael, or Eric, or both of them. I wasn't really sure where the epilogue was going, whether it would lead to heartbreak or not. I can't really pinpoint exactly why I felt a bit let down from the epilogue, I was just left feeling flat by it. It might have been the huge time gap between the end and the epilogue possibly.