This is, hands down, one of the most interesting, original YA books I’ve ever read. I’m incredibly glad I got the chance to read it, and I’m a bit at a loss as to how to describe it. There are a lot of different threads here, all of them working together to illustrate interconnectedness, the link between people, between the past and the present, between the body and the spirit. It’s a spiritual book, rooted in both New Age and historical Black sensibilities. This spirituality is so deeply felt that you don’t have to believe in things like astrology (which features heavily) in order to be moved.

The story is mainly character- and theme-focused, and it moves with the zodiac seasons, jumping from Aries to Taurus to Gemini and so forth. Occasionally, these gaps in time feel a bit like a stutter; sometimes characters will forge relationships “off-screen,” so to speak, and I found myself wishing that I could’ve seen more of their interactions, especially when it came to Audre and her father. But Mabel and Audre’s voices and inner lives develop so steadily and realistically that it’s easy to forgive the book’s minor flaws. The larger time jumps - or time mergings, perhaps, the weaving together of the protagonists’, Queenie’s, and Aufa’s youths - are handled deftly and were perhaps my favorite part of the book. So many threads, all of them coming together in a way that reinforces a theme of solidarity and transcendence.

One thing that I really appreciate about a lot of children’s/YA books I’ve read this year is the kindness that permeates them. This is a book about love, and it’s a book that loves. It loves its characters and treats them with the respect they deserve. The narrative never punishes them for forging strong bonds with one another or for standing up for what they believe - their love, hope, and spirituality are portrayed as powerful rather than naive. They struggle, but they ultimately maintain their dignity. Please, please read this book.