Review Detail

The connection between Ocean and her roommates, Georgie and Tashya, and how she relates to them changes throughout the story, and it plays a major role in Ocean’s growth throughout the book. Watching Ocean mature was one of my favorite parts of the book, although it comes rather late in the story. Her relationships with her roommates were also done really well, and both roommates have well-rendered personalities. Despite the roommates having a relationship with each other that had Ocean feeling like a third wheel for much of the book, they form a beautiful and supportive group for each other. Another strength is the way this book explores the difficult interactions that can occur between immigrants and their children who are first-generation Americans, especially struggles with communication.

The first three-quarters of the book are rather slow-moving, but the last quarter makes up for it. This story keeps mental health issues up front and center, with Ocean struggling with untreated depression and suicidal ideation, which can be triggering for some readers. Ocean communicates with Constantine through a Google document, and so much of their interactions are esoteric and pretentious, often not going anywhere productive, and it feels like a boring philosophy lecture. It was difficult to identify with Ocean at times, since she’s so in her head for the majority of the book, and the relationship between her and Constantine feels built on shaky ground.

Although this is a slow-paced story, it picks up towards the end and that definitely won points. There’s one intimate scene but it isn’t explicit, and it’s age appropriate, although the excessively obtuse communications between Ocean and Constantine, as well as the focus on suicidal ideation can be a bit rough for readers at the younger end of the range. Otherwise, this is a great read that explores that tough time where young people are taking their first steps towards independence, and deciding what they want to do with their lives after completing high school.