I searched for this book for years. For some reason my rural American high school had a copy of the English translation of this novel in 2015, and it's stuck with me ever since. I finally got it through interlibrary loan, and while my memories don't line up with the actual plot, I enjoyed it exponentially more than I've enjoyed the other books I've sought out from my high school days of voracious reading.
The story shifts narrators as it shifts between chapters, as denoted by a name and title beneath the chapter number. The main force of the novel is the deep and tender friendship between Alissa and Evelin and what Evelin is willing to do to protect her dearest friend. It begins with Alissa's yearly Christmas visit to her father's grave. As with the previous few years, Evelin comes for moral support.

This year, their flashlight dies and Alissa falls through a weak spot in the ground into a crypt where the unrealized potential of a dead little boy has taken the form of a plant that draws Alissa to take and eat it so it may have the chance to grow inside of a person. As the story progresses, the genre slides from a coming of age story towards fantasy/supernatural. Simon starts the novel as an abusive stalker of an ex boyfriend whose only goal is to have Alissa as his girlfriend while still sleeping with other women and girls, and he turns into a depraved madman, hellbent on being Alissa's and owning her. He is physically and mentally drawn to her. Similarly Alissa's attachment to the real world weakens when she starts seeing the guardians that saves those who ask for help from the edge of death. After forcing a kiss on Alissa, Simon can see them too. Evelin's unwavering love for Alissa, despite not always being able to trust what her best friend sees is one of my favorite parts of the book. To love to the point of such monumental self sacrifice and to be trusted deeply enough for Alissa to trust Evelin to take the gift and know that she will be near without the ability to see her shows

a heart wrenchingly close bond that makes this book special.