Everything All at Once

interesting book. I don't have a final rating yet... but... it was interesting...

3.75 stars | I've had this book for a couple of years and I can't believe it has taken me so long to get to it! It was so good. Not as good as Summer of Salt, obviously, but still. Highly recommend if you need a good ya contemporary with a little bit of magical realism <3 Actually I'm glad I picked this up when I did because it's helped me out of my reading slump :D

** spoiler alert ** *2.5 ⭐️ I have to talk about this book in spoilers because I wouldn’t be able to tell you my problem with it otherwise. I started off really enjoying this. I knew it had a bit more substance to it than just a romance as Lottie deals with her aunt’s death. I wanted a bit of a break from all the fantasy I read, but didn’t want just a fluffy contemporary, but something that dealt with some real issues. Whilst it did deliver for the most part the ending completely ruined it. Lottie was a really good protagonist. She has anxiety and just when it seems to be under control, her aunt dies from cancer and she can’t stop thinking about death. From what I understand as I haven’t really had any major losses, the grief shown is this story was done well. Lottie was very close with her aunt and the letters her aunt gave her after she died really helped Lottie to overcome her fears and anxiety. I really related to Lottie. I also wanted to quickly mention her best friend Em. She was so fantastic and was really there for Lottie. She’s also a lesbian and my little gay heart exploded with how cute Em was. I also really appreciated the fact that the author included a person with they/them pronouns. It was a very very minor character, but I still enjoyed seeing it. The overall plot was Lottie going through the 24 letters her aunt had written and doing the things her aunt dared her to do like taking risks and letting go etc. There was also Sam who sometimes helped Lottie out with her dares, it eventually turns into something more than friendship. My issue lies with Sam We find out at the end of the book that Sam is immortal. Immortal. Yep. I was shocked by it and while it was good in that sense, I just didn’t like it. I feel like there was this constant struggle with Lottie thinking about death and the ways she didn’t want to die. She was obsessed basically, and then she is given the opportunity to become immortal and she refuses it. Whilst this is character growth, it’s not what I signed up for. I feel like it came out of nowhere, it was just like ‘hey Sam’s immortal, the End’. How? When? What? Then it’s never explained. I just feel it was choppy and it was a twist for the sake of a twist. I was expecting a contemporary with a bit of romance and a whole lot of grief and I feel like this kind of took away from the main message of the book. Overall, really great characters with accurate depictions of anxiety and grief, but disappointingly a fantastical element that came from out of nowhere.

Oh. My. Word. I adore this book. From the copious pop culture and literary references (if you easily refer to the Tenth Doctor and Rose saying goodbye through parallel dimension, you must be awesome), Leno creates a narrative that forces us to deal with death, fear, and the prospect of eternal life in one of the most compelling ways I have ever read. I loved the "excerpts" included at the end of each chapter from the Alvin Hatter books. I think Leno should write these books. I know I would read them for sure. Leno ended the book leaving the reader longing for so much more, a sequel that will never come and never should come.

3.5* I thought that the plot twist was obvious and I wanted the ending to be a bit different. But all in all an enjoyable read.