I don’t usually read high school romances anymore, they seem unrealistic to me, what are the odds that you meet the man/woman you will end up marrying ten years later in school when the most pressing problem is getting an A in history class or the newest pimple that pops up on your nose making you look like Rudolph at Christmas. But I picked this up because the blurb was deliciously enticing. And I loved it for reasons far greater.

It was so nice reading about a person of color! All the romances I’ve been reading have been about white people and I’m so glad to finally have some diversity! But that was just one of the small somethings that made this book good.

So when I went to this I was expecting a very Wattpadish romance. This past month has been a slow reading month for me and most of what I’ve been reading is a part of this genre I have conveniently named ‘bad-boy trash’ in which case there are some really problematic themes of reluctance and sexual prowess and bullying which I don’t want to attack here. Suffice to say I was very surprised by how different what I got was!

Firstly, the friendships. I adored that there were healthy girl friendships, with no drama. The high school seemed normal as well, there wasn’t the typical mean girl who’s a cheerleader or the valedictorian to be. Nandini, Cora and Karina are so lovely together (DIVERSITY FOR THE WIN!), and it was so nice to see a high school book focused on relatively normal happenings rather than picking up on tropes that are so easy to build on. Bullying, cliques, mean girl, friend drama. Sure those are things that happen in high school, but they don’t happen to everyone and there are schools able to cultivate a normal experience similar to the one I had. Drama isn’t continuous in just one student’s life, it happens and then it doesn’t. The constant support between these three friends was so wholesome and lovely as they pushed each other to be their best selves and yet backed off when it was needed. It felt healthy, something I share with my own girlfriends. Relatable. (Also I know we weren’t supposed to like Xander but I was kind of rooting for him and Cora to sort of get together… or maybe have their own book? Casual feelers put out, universe do your magic!)

I think it was so important to put out the fact that characters can’t be put into the boxes we as readers and writers seem to create for them. When I went into this book, I was expecting a leather jacket-wearing jerk, riding a motorcycle with childhood issues of being assaulted or bullied or whatnot (courtesy of the bad-boy trash I have had the misfortune of reading). It was delightful to see that Ace was described as a bad boy with his leather jacket and disregard for rules, but he wasn’t just that. He was a guy who loved eating strawberry sorbet, and classical music and he likes stargazing and astronomy and isn’t stupid. The characters felt so fleshed out. It made me feel more comfortable in my skin knowing that we aren’t just one person meant to fit in boxes. I realized how strange it is for me to be ashamed of how much TV I watch just because I am academically inclined and read a lot. No one is just one thing, and I loved how that was tackled in a subtle manner, so effortless that it’s barely there and yet it resounds.

I loved that not everything had a happy ending. Between Karina and her parents, some things were resolved and others weren’t and that’s how life is, you don’t get a win on everything. I really enjoyed that Tashie chose to resolve the biggest things in Karina’s life, resolving the conflict of what she’s going to do in college and leaving her love life to imagination. Karina continues to date Ace in secret and hasn’t figured out how she’s going to tell her parents or when or even if she will, and that felt okay because as I said above, not everything is an easy fix in life. Usually, realistic books in YA and romance aren’t my thing but the story was just woven in such a way that I actually adored it.

And finally, what I adored about this book was the romance. As of late, I have been disillusioned by the romance genre, what with all the problematic assault themes that are underlying them or the emotional abuse or the control issues. Romance isn’t supposed to be this complete dependency, it’s about love between two separate entities. People who still remain their own, they just begin sharing parts of themselves with another person. Parts that might be hidden from a sibling or a parent or a friend. I loved that Ace and Karina didn’t try to complete each other, we are complete people on our own, they added strength and resolve to each other’s characters, they provided support, they had chemistry that felt good, but they remained their own. It felt so healthy and it felt like romance the way it should be written. Was Karina a damsel in need of saving from her parents? Perhaps she was, but what struck me was that it was never once Ace’s job, in the book, to save her. It was her own. I loved that they were able to respect boundaries and draw lines for themselves and never once did it come in the way of the relationship because at the end of the day they remained their own people. And having said that, the sparks and the chemistry were abundant and sweet and exactly what romance should be with first dates and melty kisses and stargazing. It was a romance I would want for myself, not the thing of fantasies.

So yes, I will be picking up more of Tashie’s books as soon as she writes them. And as someone suffering from anxiety, I’d like to thank her for the tips and the beautiful poetry. A fabulous, fabulous debut.