Autumn and Finn grew up together as best friends and next door neighbors. Their mothers always assumed that they would end up together as a couple. But by the time high school begins, they aren't really talking to each other anymore. Autumn has Jamie and Finn has found Sylvie. They both couldn't be happier in their respective relationships. But somehow all that shared history bring Autumn and Finn back to each in their times of need.
Mapped out over four years of high school, Nowlin's lushly written novel captures the trials and drama of Autumn and Finn's development and their largely inevitable coming together. While beautifully written, covering such a long expanse of time leads to a lot of jumping around and senior year is largely a blur in this retelling. Throughout, I struggled to understand where the story was really going. Yes, there are plenty of indications along the way that Finn and Autumn really ought to be together, but the book is full of so much more than that (subplots ranging from a pregnancy to a divorce to drugs to sexual abuse) that I wondered what the point of the book really was. It's all very pretty and well-told, but does one need to cram every single good idea into the same book?
All that is a minor complaint compared to my thoughts on the book's shocking ending. I won't spoil the story for others, but I feel very strongly that Nowlin basically ruined the story for me in the last ten pages with an unnecessary, pointless, and completely out-of-the-blue plot twist that lacks any foundation. I'd suggest stopping on page 381 because I'm now left seriously wondering why I read those first 380 pages.
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