Jade Carpenter

The prose is decent but the tropes did not work for me. I don't enjoy works where the worst suffering happens around the main character, and the main character's growth is what the narrative follows and what we are supposed to care about and be fascinated by most. If you're lgbtq you might want to skip this one. *Spoilers* Two gay men die in this narrative so a tween can get a little perspective. I don't enjoy when pets are killed for teen character growth and especially not into gay men being killed for it. It's supposed to be sympathetic to the gay men but feels like keeping the Hayes code alive. There is a parallel made between the protagonist's incestuous crush on her uncle, and the uncle's homosexuality. I read the entire thing, hoping to find some redemption with the wrap up of the story, but was left feeling grossed out.