2 a.m. 6/11/2023 and I just stayed up way to late completely consumed in this book. My thoughts and feelings are so conflicted about this one. There was no stopping me, I was invested. At one point, I thought, “Oh no, this is wrong and sad.”. Had I just read something totally inappropriate or had I just read the sweetest love story ever!? This is a coming-of-age story about a girl who has a rough start in life. You mostly read her thoughts in the first half of the book because she seems be mute. Perhaps she is mute due to trauma, or perhaps she is mute due to her wisdom, or perhaps both. Most of the people she should be able to count on seem out of touch with reality and consumed with their own problems. Despite this, there is one guy/adult she can trust and who she talks to. She feels safe and protected when he is around. A mostly innocent love grows between them until it becomes something else. Has she completely misunderstood the situation and has he completely misled it? Honestly, I’m not sure since I was also in love by the end of the book. I felt all the feelings as my heart broke with theirs. In love and conflicted.