I went into this blind. The start had me a little worried - I didn't realize it was about suicide. I don't know if it covered that part super well (she seemed to get over her depression/ideologies all pretty quickly!), but it got a lot better for me after Phoebe actually met Lila. Once I saw where it was going, I also thought it was going to be too sappy or something, but I think all the drama, humor, and sentimentality were balanced well. I felt for Phoebe and loved that she found this goofy found family.

This is not high art. But it is an inventive take on the romance novel genre. The framing device - suicide - is mentioned as problematic by many reviewers. I grok that. But my rating is based on the book setting out to do a small thing, and in my opinion, nailing it.