This is a YA, slow burn (no irony intended) romance, set in a small town – but it's also a story of a high masking autistic girl trying to pave her own path, without stepping on too many neurotypical toes along the way.

"She liked knowing why she was the way she was, it was a relief. A welcome key to her own mind."

I'm not a big fan of romance books in the first place, but I felt that the romantic aspects weren't written as well as they could have been. The build up to the end didn't exactly develop in a way that felt natural, and the end itself felt a little too happily-ever-after for my taste. 

The neurodivergence aspect is mainly what kept me interested! This type of representation, canonically autistic women; is something I never saw up until somewhat recently. I could identify with Jasper (the FMC) in a way I rarely do with other characters. I also saw elements of my fellow neurodivergent counterparts reflected in her.

I'm so grateful that Elle McNicoll and other authors/creators like her are on the come up, because this type of representation is necessary. Thanks to them, many neurodivergent people finally get to see themselves represented in a respectful way.

I rarely annotate books but this one called me to do it, as did "Keedie!" Many "hey, she's like me" moments. We're of course not the same, but there are certain aspects of Jasper that stuck out to me because, again, I rarely see those traits represented, especially not in a realistic way.

In addition to the neurodivergent element, I found the wintery setting to be nice, especially because I read the book during that same time of year. The romanticization of winter in media makes winter in real life feel a bit more bearable!