Two disclaimers:
1. This book includes a suicide attempt, as well as transphobic and homophobic bullying and emotional and physical abuse.
2. The author has been accused of rape and abuse by her ex-wife, and due to the circumstances and what I was able to find about it I'm not sure what to believe. I didn't see anything about this until I was almost done with the book, and am writing this review without consideration of said allegations.

What a beautiful, heartbreaking book. Books like this can and will change the world, but this is more than an Important book, it's a good book. The two perspectives were written well, and themes that came up throughout the years tied everything together so naturally. I thought the book would feel choppy because of the time jumps but it didn't, there was just enough catch-up done so that it felt smooth, even as characters had time to change and progress and grow (or not, as in Eric's dad's case).