Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free advance copy of this book.

Ivy and her family are Chinese immigrants, working their way up from nothing in the wealthy suburbs of Boston. In middle school, Ivy had a hopeless crush on Gideon, an untouchably rich boy at her prep school. Years later as adults, they meet again and begin dating, and Ivy finally reaches the inner circles of wealth - but also discovers the dark side of this seemingly perfect world. 

Good things first. This book is beautifully written - the plot takes its time to get rolling but I found myself carried onward by the smooth prose. I thought the contrast between Ivy's family's origins in rural China and the WASPy life she finds herself in was quite interesting, viewing the tale of outsider-infiltrating-old-money through a new lens. 

Stuff I didn't like as much. I found this story to be so predictable. I could see every turn of the plot coming from a mile away (yes, even the two big twists in the last 50 pages). There's also a fair bit of unchallenged fatphobia and ableism from both the characters and the narration, including use of the R-word. 

Content warnings: eating disorder, physical abuse, fatphobia, ableism, depression. 

“They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died." 

Oh, this book. Emezi is a genius. To say this is the story of Vivek's death is oversimplifying it. So it saying it's the story of Vivek discovering his true self. Or that it's a story of the pain and trauma that repressing yourself brings on you and your community. It's all these things and more, laid out with gorgeous prose that is both straightforward and continuously looping back on itself. 

Somehow, knowing that Vivek would die made the book all the more painful and beautiful. So does knowing that even his closest relatives and friends did not always see the full picture (ha) of who Vivek was until it was too late. I cried at the end. I'm trying not to cry now writing this. Please read this book if you can manage it. It's incredible and important. 

Content warnings: homophobia, transphobia, incest.