— 4.25 stars —

« Memories: some can be sucker punching, others carry you forward; some stay with you forever, others your forget on your own. You can't really know which ones you'll survive if you don't stay on the battlefield, bad times shooting at you like bullets. But if you're lucky, you'll have plenty of good tomes to shield you. »

The beginning was pretty slow for me, but needless to say this book ended up breaking me. Some scenes were really, really hard and heartbreaking.

« Sometimes pain is so unmanageable that the idea of spending another day with it seems impossible. Other times pain acts as a compass to help you get through the messier tunnels of growing up. But the pain can only help you find happiness if you can remember it. »

« Happiness comes again if you let it. »

Even though at first, it felt really boring, the second half of the book was captivating and emotionally challenging. I ended up liking this book a lot.
It was a powerful, poignant and gut-wrenching read.

TW: homophobia, assault, mention of suicide.