“Everything is changing all the time, regardless of our feelings about it.”
One of my favorite quotes from the book is also exactly a perfect reflection of its best themes. The book follows Susan and has a few snapshots from her life. Sort of like how the memories on your phone hit you hard sometimes… it’s incredible how not much seems to change day to day but a snapshot from 2019 can really knock you off your stool.
Starting in 2005, Susan doesn’t know who she is and has typical self-centered teen relationships. She comes across Eliza briefly but immediately loses track of her and sees her as the one that got away.
The first chapter is rife with early 00s nostalgia, you’ll be surprised at things that have since faded away that were so entrenched in the every day. The Lancôme juicy tubes and downloaded punk rock.
The subsequent chapters jump and while you miss Susan’s coming out, her career start, I love the way this book skips the “big event” scenes and just cuts to a sort of a normal day. Just as in real life, people who are main characters in one phase of your life become a forethought in the next.
All throughout, Susan sort of romanticizes Eliza although she truly doesn’t really know her. It’s less of a Romance than a coming of age LitFic character study. It is solidly Susan’s POV and shows a jump in her maturity and a loss of innocence and a growth with each passing year.
“Maybe love is trusting how someone feels about you.”
You’ll highlight several sentences.
Thanks to NetGalley and st martins press for the ARC. Book to be published June 22, 2026.
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