I flew through this book so fast. This was truly a coming of age read, with the main characters starting university and being away from home for the first time. This is definitely book for Alice Oseman fans.

Leo takes the more traditional route. He moves out of state for university to change up his life and goes through the usual roommate get-t0-know-yous, the experience of making new (and old) friends, and the feeling of falling in love, truly, for the first time. I really enjoyed his character as he found people to pull him out of his shell and allow him the space to be himself (very introverted, thoughtful, and loyal). I loved the little found family that he found himself in and his friends truly lived out the trend of extroverts adopting introverts.

Sloan, in contrast, is only moving an hour away from the neighbourhood he grew up in. In a year-long relationship, he moves in with his boyfriend and deals with all the growing pains that come with that. As he makes new friends and learns more about the man he moved in with, he learns the true meaning of unconditional love and support. I loved him so much, and I wanted to hug him so badly.

Colette, Justin, and Max, along with Leo and Sloan's respective family and friends, were so much fun and were fleshed out well. I loved seeing them explore university and all it has to offer them as the book progressed and we saw their growth as well.

As a whole, this book is entirely character driven and joining them through their freshman year was rewarding, emotional, and fun. I'm so sad that their story is over, but I am so looking forward to Ivy Duncan's books in the future!

Rep: MC is colourblind

TW: emotional abuse, drug use, alcohol consumption, violence, vomit; mentions sexual assault

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

eARC obtained via Reedsy Discovery in exchange for an honest review and remuneration.