2.5 stars? I don’t know quite yet, but this was really slow for a standalone and I wasn’t vibing with it :( the ending was also really weird, and the POV timeline was unclear until the 3/4ths mark.

The spirit realm stuff was interesting tho, and at least our POVs were distinctive. If you like relatively simply fantasy stories that aren’t fast-paced, I think you’ll like this one.

From the first few pages, I knew this book would really stick with me. And it did! I choked up many a time. I loved Kris’s development and how her perception and experience of motherhood changed over the book, all the relationships (platonic and otherwise) she had with other characters who were “second parents” to her kid, and because of how the book was written in second person to her late wife it provided for a fascinating way of exploring her feelings of grief and guilt about moving on from Beau. Literally one of my favorite books, it’s got so much material I can unpack on my rereads.

Speaking of the kid, she felt very realistically written for one! I liked how different she was at her stages of development, and also she was just an adorable little menace. (Did anyone else notice that the author’s child looks basically how Kris’s kid was described?? I was checking their Instagram page and noticed that! That’s..kinda sweet, actually?!?!)