Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this ARC. A well written and moving book about family, limits we set ourselves and the impact of others. An enjoyable read for the target YA audience, slightly messy in parts but perhaps as a reflection of the characters who all bring their own messy and nonlinear approach to life. Thank you for the advanced read.

16 year old me would have DEVOURED this book. At times I thought to myself “this is a little over the top, Orla.” And then remembered myself at that age and was like “nope. This is too accurate.” The gentle, realistic romance had my feet kicking and the overarching theme of being afraid to dream big hit home. I relate to Orla so much at that age as someone that felt like they needed to take care of siblings and friends. That I was content letting others succeed and hold myself back. Having a book that would have told me it’s okay to do both-love those in your circle and still get to dream big would have been life changing.

dnf @ 20 %

i loved the whole concept 'be a hero not a sidekick' but unfortunately the execution was not good.

the writing was clumsy and not well structured. there was so many different characters not introduced properly or described making it hard to follow. dialogue was unnatural and repetitive at times.

i couldn't relate to main character orla and found her to be unlikeable. her constant moaning and negativity was draining to read.

orla is someone who’s life feels fulfilled by being the side kick, and never the hero even in her own story. always willing to help her found family so they can be happy, she feels content being in the sidelines, not really having anything for her own enjoyment.

as someone who’s always felt a little bit like the sidekick even in her own story, this book cut deep.

the characters felt the perfect amount of messy and the perfect amount of relatable, because i, too, felt that way before i started university, i too felt insecure about doing the right thing or what made me happy.

orla finally realizing that she doesn’t have to force herself into playing a particular part in orden for her to still feel like the main character was just the perfect ending to a spectacularly well written story.

<i><blockquote> Life isn't about a 'happy ending'. It's about a whole life filled with as much happiness as you can get from now until the end. So while I hope there's a long, long time to go before I'm done, when it comes to this chapter of my life I can truthfully say I have made myself a very, very happy ending indeed. </blockquote></i>

Thank you NG, the publisher Faber & Faber and Alexia Casale, the author, for giving me the opportunity of reading this arc.