While it didn’t exactly fulfill my expectations for a book billed as magical realism, it did exceed those for romance books. I really did enjoy the fact that the protagonist of the book is at times 18 and at times 80. Because she’s in her eighties, we don’t have to deal with any descriptions of preternatural beauty and instead hear of balding heads, rounded bellies, and grey hair. I think what I liked about this compared to other romance selections I’ve read is that Augusta has a distinct personality, goals, and regrets that while relevant to the romance, isn’t wholly contextualized by them.

The book is a little heavy on the tropes. Regret! Love triangles that maybe aren’t triangles! Decades long debacles that could have been solved if somebody had been forthcoming and honest for once.

My favorite element of this story, weirdly, is the discussion of the mother’s death. (Not a spoiler, this happens within the first 30 pages.) I loved the seed of the idea of what if your family member died of an illness and within a year they release the cure. It’s a very poignant and painstaking idea and I wish it was something explored more. Even the barest mention of it was something I really enjoyed and thought was a very interesting concept to include.