"I want to get away from all the labels. 'I'm OCD,' 'I'm depressed,' 'I'm a cutter,' they say, like these are the things that define them.

I'm the only one who is just Theodore Finch."

Rarely have I ever read a book that is more than just a story. This book takes your heart from the very beginning, with no forewarning and/or easing into the world that has been created. It proceeds to give you a roller coaster of hope, enlightenment, love and happiness, before slamming you with heartache and the overwhelming sadness that so many of us have faced, all before leaving us with once again, a silver lining of hope.

There is absolutely nothing I would change about this book. Not the outcome, not the struggle, not the light. So often we become so numb and blinded to the typical dressed up story about the flawed hero that we grow to overlook the little ones. The characters that don't get a voice or the ones that only get the chance to show their one dimension. This story breaks open those wallflowers and proudly shows us all their flaws and broken pieces in a ruthless yet beautiful symphony of laughter and tears.

This story reminds us that not everything is black and white. That there is gray in everything we see, everything we hear, and most importantly, everything we love.