I could already smell it from the GORGEOUS book cover design that this story would eat, and it didn't disappoint. We follow our main character, Zenobia (Zen), who grew up in less-than-ideal family conditions. Her parents relationship was incredibly toxic (kudos to her dad for trying his best to hold the fort) and literally fought every single day, which deeply affected her. Because of this trauma, Zenobia grew up believing that love and marriage were things she never wanted to be involved in. But everything begins to shift when she goes on vacation to visit her grandmother and meets a boy named Raluki (Ral).

Let me tell you, Ral is the absolute symbol of perfection! Even though he is ostracized due to cultural biases because he is an 'Auli', he is just everything I want in a book boyfriend. He is incredibly industrious, amazing with his words, emotionally intelligent, calm, and beautiful. Watching him help Zenobia develop a completely different perspective on love and selfworth by the end of the story was just wonderful.

Shout out to the side characters, Nikolas and Anara, who are Ruki's friends and eventually become great friends with Zen as well.

This book was packed full of raw unfiltered emotion. There is a moment where Zen makes a devastating discovery about why her mother is so toxic. This revelation completely broke me and made me cry! I was also filled with tension at the final chapter when it seemed like Ral's life was in grave danger. Thankfully, I couldn't have been more satisfied with the way the story ended.

Can we just give it up for the author. A standing ovation, please. 👏👏👏 She knows her onions!!! 🥹 Thank you VERRRYYYY much to the author for gifting me this book for my birthday. It was such a wonderful read. I'm glad I got to experience Zen and Ral's sweet crush-turned-love. (Sighs in memories of the good ol' days. Ha ha...)

Also, this was my very first experience reading on Sona reading app and it was nothing short of amazing. You guys should check out the app. It's so cool. Plus their customer service is incredibly sweet. 😁