what a tragic love story sophie and mina’s was. everything they lost… everything they could’ve been. all cut too short. they never even got to be out together.

reading from sophie’s pov was absolutely heartbreaking. she was a well-written, imperfect, complex character—she felt real. i empathized with everything sophie was going through and all the hardships she faced prior (car accident that left her permanently disabled and led to addiction to pills) to and after mina’s murder. people expected her to hit rock bottom but never expected her to be strong enough to climb out.

i studied addiction in college and not many know that one of the hardest parts for addicts is their constant struggle of learning how to trust themselves again. loved ones learning how to trust them (or never learning to) also plays a big role in an addict’s healing process—and we see all of that play out throughout the book in the way people treated sophie when she came back from rehab after mina’s death. sophie’s growth and development throughout the book was rough and painful, but also profoundly inspirational in the end.

addiction is not something i take lightly in books—even if it’s fiction—it is something i’m more critical of and do base my opinions on how carefully the author handled the topic. sharpe’s book about loss, grief, sexuality, and addiction was poignant.

in my opinion, the murder mystery part of the book was overshadowed by the complex characters and grief they were living with. the truth was a bit anticlimactic but i loved everything else about this book.