3 words: Shakespeare, Gay, Sad

This book went straight to the most me-coded books ever. For years, my friends have begged me to read this book because it's very me-coded and I would LOVE it. It's actually astounding—the amount of friends that recommended me this book. But all of them were right.

I have always loved theatre growing up, and I don't think that's a secret. I love Shakespeare (sometimes). I love found family. I love sad, misunderstood gay characters. All the stars were aligned. It was impossible for me to like this book. Not even my hater self can hate this book.

If there's one thing Rio did amazingly was to write the characters!! I probably shouldn't root for them, but Rio got me rooting for them. Like no, your honor, they didn't do anything wrong!! WHATTTT!!! I have always loved morally grey characters because they add so much dynamic to the story. Each character served its own purpose, and it's so interesting and entertaining see how they are fleshed out. James, Oliver, Meredith, and Flippa are all so me. It's insane. If you count how much times I have annotated the book with "He/She's so me", I would have hundreds of dollars.

When Rio said you can justify anything if you do it poetically enough, she was TALKING ABOUT THIS BOOK. It was so poetic and beautiful. You could tell she poured her whole heart into it, and you know, she has EXPERIENCE being an actress. It's always so fun looking at the backstage of theatre works.

After this book, I want to throw myself because what the fuck was that ending??? This the type of book that will result to you opening a yet another new AO3 tab. Now, I stop here because I might accidentally spoil the whole book. But PLEASE, if you're looking for a next read, make it this one.