Rounding up from 3.5

I found the first 2 parts to be so overwhelming (soul-crushingly) strong, but the story faltered a couple chapters into the third section. 

It felt like the further out in time I got, the less real and grounded the tragedy felt which I couldn’t match with how very real the first 2 parts were. There were some chapters that I wasn’t sure if Aaron or Tillie was supposed to be the missing piece. 

The final section felt extremely rushed.

I had a hard time believing that their parents would just comes up with their whole plan so easily, especially Tillie’s mom. And then they don’t even follow through because after a while both of teens are just wandering off on their own. It also feels like Aaron and Tille both just decide they’re not okay but that’s okay and they’re just not going to be suicidal anymore, and that’s not how it works.

I'm really sad to dnf this book because I am both a Filipina and an Arizonan. Alex's welcome banquet? I love that scene so much, but this book is just A LOT. It is constantly throwing new things at you, it wants to shove in every fairytale and legend that it can, and to be honest I thought it was cool at first how the world had so much, but then there had to be a character from each (and so many of the characters felt like they were basically the same person). This is only the first book, everything didn't have to be jammed into it.

In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Chupeco said this was the first book that she wrote, and it felt like it, and I'm just sad that I can't love it as much as I wanted to.