This book would have been better without the crime background, actually. I was constantly saying how it read a bit like true crime for me at the beginning and I did not like it. What I liked was learning about the characters. I really feel like it could have been stronger without that subplot because I enjoyed reading about Carmel, Richie, and John’s past, but I needed more. I would have loved to read way more about Rose. Am I going insane, or was it hinted that she died partly because of Lucy? Tom was interesting to me at the beginning, showing how the media works and thinks. You really think they are there to help you? Hah, no way. But then we had too much of him, which felt really unnecessary. I read a short interview with the author at the end of my book, and apparently, there was even more about him, but the editor said it was better to focus on the Green family, so a lot got cut or edited. I don't even want to know how much there was before, smart editor. I mostly enjoyed the writing style, it had some good lines. I didn't mind the lack of quotation marks. It made me read slower, but I never really had a problem knowing who was speaking. But I also enjoy Rooney from time to time, so I’m biased. I didn’t like the ending with the time skips, but I was glad at least something was shown about Lucy and Carmel. We got some glimpses of personal growth and getting mental help. I didn’t need some elaborate ending where everything was shown to me. I liked how it leaned into acceptance, how life just works. It had quite a lot of problems. My main issue was how the story was written, how it kept jumping, how disjointed it felt. But I’m not a hater. There were things I enjoyed, but it didn’t touch me deeply unfortunately. 3/5 stars from me.
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