The more I read of Sara Zarr, the more I think her books are mostly just okay. I'm not sure if she just chooses topics I don't particularly like, or if the first two books of hers that I read (Story of a Girl, Roomies) were the best. But this book was just kind of okay to me.

I found both narrators to be kind of annoying. Not unlikeable in any interesting way, just kind of annoying to read. I didn't enjoy either of their perspectives. Mandy felt almost like a caricature, just so completely surface level even when it didn't make sense for her character. And Jill was a ball of rage with a heart of gold. I wasn't invested in either of their outcomes.

The ending also felt like the ultimate cliche. There was one single way for everything to be wrapped up neatly and perfectly, and that's exactly where this story went. I don't mind a good happy ending, but it has to feel earned and this one just seemed tacked on as a way to resolve the story without actually dealing with any of the issues.

It also seemed absolutely absurd to me that these characters are going through the whole process of adoption with no paperwork and people are just like cool with that. No social workers involved, no lawyers, nothing signed. The pregnant teenager and 52 year old widow just met online and said hey let's do this. It seems like an incredibly sketchy situation and ridiculous that their doctor and friends think it's normal.

But I didn't dislike this book. It was okay. I really liked Ravi as a character and Jill's romance with him. It was a nice escape from the rest of the story and so well written. I loved the way both characters related to each other and how they remembered the other from high school. I also enjoyed the setting. I've said this before and I'll say it again, but no one writes a setting like Sara Zarr. She captures San Francisco spectacularly.

And the actual writing itself is so good. I love Zarr's writing style, just apparently not coming from these two narrators. I'm still continuing my read through of all her books and I'm hoping the last couple start to look up. Otherwise I'll just have to reread Story of a Girl to remind myself how good Zarr can be. You would probably enjoy this a lot more than me if the adoption plot line sounds like your kind of thing, but it definitely wasn't for me.