It was a very fresh take on relationships in general and I greatly appreciated that.

The characters were so far from what I thought they would be like and while it left me wanting something more, it was endearing to see where this part of their lives were heading. It's about realistic love, acceptance, understanding that the person you love probably isn't perfect but you aren't either, the things we say (or rather don't say) to the people we love, and really at the end of the day: life.

“We take our memories wherever we go and what’s left are the ones that stick around. That’s how we make a life.”

— overall thoughts: 3.5 —

I really liked this because it followed a different plot than the usual contemporary romance and overall had a more melancholy tone. Which isn't my usual preference with contemporaries as enjoy more romcom types but I'm glad that I enjoyed this.

It's heart warming when it wants to be and discusses head on topics that I don't usually come across.

For the most part our two main characters actually take on separate journeys within the story which was surprising... but it worked! The times when the timeline went back and forth was flawlessly done. The transitions made sense and I loved what the Bryan Washington went with in terms of the flow. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with his narration as he does narrate one of the main characters. It was so monotone and even though I was curious about what was happening, their narration just affected the storytelling aspect. The first half was the most intriguing part to me because of Benson and Mike's mom so it saddened me how uninspired I was to continue at some points just because I was not enjoying the narration.

The relationship between the main characters feel entirely realistic and mature. Again, the way everything was handled felt like this story could have actually happened to some japanese and african-american guy somewhere in the world. Especially Mike's mom, ohmygoodness. She was so well written and her relationship with Benson made my heart swell. There were some decisions that I personally did not agree with and could not relate in terms of Benson and Mike's relationship but that's on me.

It did not end the way I expected it to because the story itself was not what I thought it would be (that doesn't mean it was a bad thing) but it was still fulfilling like everything came full circle.

↣ I would say that there is a slow build up in terms of plot and there is not that much heavy drama. If you like those kinds of stories, then you might like this. Perhaps try not doing the audiobook though. ↢

“Loving a person means letting them change when they need to and letting them go when they need to. And that doesn’t make them any less of a home. Just maybe not for you, or only for a season or two. That doesn’t diminish the love, it just changes forms."

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PRE READ:
the lows and highs of a romance featuring a mm japanese american chef and black man who works at a daycare... hello