This was so much more than a Romance or two exes following the “will they, won’t they?” or “finding their way back to each other” cliches - TJR gives the reader a refreshing and much-needed reminder that if you’re so caught up in a relationship (of any kind) that you can lose your sense of self and it’s important to get it back. 

I loved when Lauren began to realize that both she and Ryan needed this time apart. It was crucial. They spent so many years with one another and it was evident that they slowly became a shell of their former selves. That’s a tough pill to swallow, and there were times where I asked myself “If they have to do ALL of this or won’t see a counselor, why don’t they just end it?” I still don’t have the full answer for that tbh, lol. Different things work for different people, i guess 🤷🏾‍♀️ - but reading about Lauren doing little things for herself and gaining her autonomy back was nice. I thought this book was relatable to an extent - being in a long term relationship myself, I empathized with both Lauren and Ryan, it’s not always rainbows and sunshine, there’s a lot of effort, time, trust, and compromise that go into maintaining a healthy relationship, among other things.  

Final Thoughts: Overall, I enjoyed this story. And I’ve been thinking about it from time to time - I get what TJR was trying to do with this and I thought it was real, raw, and most notably, a beautiful mess. L&R’s journey was theirs and theirs alone. I do wish we could’ve got more of Ryan’s POV, but I still thought this was a reflective read!